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 monthIn good years, those wines produced in excess of the cap set for each harvest are set aside for release in the event of a future harvest shortfall. Known as the “inter-professional Champagne wine reserve”, these reserve stocks represent a particularly ingenious solution to the problem of meeting market demand in good and bad years alike, with no loss of quality.
The House of Delamotte was established in Reims in 1760 by François Delamotte and renamed Delamotte Père & Fils when the company was joined by his two sons, Alexander and Nicolas-Louis (a former Knight of Malta). Operating under the motto, vive et me ama (live and love me), they built their House a reputation that resounded throughout Europe.
The Champagne Houses