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
Such has been the success of Champagne wines that by the early nineteenth century the Champagne name was being misused by producers of sparkling wines from other French regions. In 1844 the Champagne Houses responded by taking joint action in the courts to restrict use of the name to a particular production process specific to the Champagne Region. The Appellation is now officially recognized and protected in 122 countries around the world.
This House started out as a winery in Cumières before relocating to its present premises in Epernay in 1955. It was founded in 1872 by Lucien Leclerc whose great grandson Bertrand and his wife Jacqueline Briant combined their surnames to create a new one for their business. The House has now embarked on a new chapter following its acquisition in 2012 by Mark Nunnelly and Denise Dupré, an American couple with a passion for the French art de vivre.
The Champagne Houses
