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 month
In 2003, Champagne was the first wine-growing region in the world to conduct a carbon footprint assessment – proof of the industry’s early commitment to tackle climate change.
Since then, 50 grams have been shaved off the weight of each Champagne bottle – equivalent to an emissions reduction of 8,000 tonnes CO2 a year, or 4,000 fewer vehicles on the road.
Genial personality, German-born Florens-Louis Heidsieck first discovered Champagne and its wines in 1777. Eight years later he founded his own Champagne House, with none other than Queen Marie-Antoinette as his first brand ambassador. In 1815 he was joined by his nephew Christian and Henri-Guillaume Piper, who married Christian’s widow following her husband’s untimely death in 1835. And with that, Piper and Heidsieck were forever joined together.
The Champagne Houses
