Union des Maisons de Champagne - Grandes Marques & Maisons de Champagne

Since 1882 the UMC has brought together all of the Grandes Marques brands and Champagne Houses that collectively underpin the worldwide reputation of Champagne wines. This website is specifically designed to teach you everything you need to know about their history and organization, their expertise and their ever-innovative ambitions.

May

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

Did you know?

Seven grape cultivars, or grape varieties, are used to make Champagne wines. Of these the three main varieties are the Pinot Noir (38% of plantings), Pinot Meunier (32%) and the Chardonay (30%). The four other approved cultivars are the Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc – together less than 0.3% of plantings.

Abelé 1757

Founded in 1757, Champagne Henri Abelé is one of the oldest Champagne Houses. In 1880 Henri Marie Joseph Louis Abelé (1852-1923) moved the business to the Rue de la Justice in Reims. In 1882, he played a part in the founding of the Syndicat du Commerce des Vins de Champagne (now the Union of Champagne Houses). The House relocated to 50 rue de la Sillery after the bombing of Reims in World War I and was acquired in 2019 by the Centre Vinicole–Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte.

The Champagne Houses