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 monthSuch 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.
For five generations, the village of Aÿ has been home to successive generations of the Philipponnat family. First they were growers and purveyors of wine to the court of Louis XIV. Then they became Champagne producers. In 1997 Philipponnat joined the Lanson-BCC group of family-driven Champagne brands.
The Champagne Houses