Champagne holds its breath until the Saints de Glace (Ice Saints) are safely past (11, 12, 13 May), dreading a spring freeze that might destroy the future harvest’s fruitful buds.
Desuckering removes the non-fruitful buds (suckers or gourmands). Any unwanted growth is removed to optimise sugar concentration and encourage good sap flow.
The Champagne month by monthNon-vintage Champagne wines are blended from different crus (growths), different cépages (grape varieties) and different millésimes (years). In exceptional years, the winemaker may decide to blend only the grapes from that year. This is what is known as a "Champagne Millésimé", or Vintage Champagne.
When it comes to Champagne, the word "cuvée" may refer either to the first-pressed juice (20.5 hectoliters per 4,000kg marc) or to the finished blend.
The origins of this House date back to 1625 when François Hémart, a contemporary of Henry IV and his successor, settled in the village of Aÿ and began to produce a wine that would enter the annals of Champagne in the following century. In the early 20th century, Léon Giraud, a French cavalryman who fought at the Battle of the Marne, married into the Hémart family and rebuilt the vineyard following the devastation wreaked by Phylloxera and World War I. Claude Giraud is now the twelfth-generation family member to preside over the House’s fortunes.
The Champagne Houses