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 monthWith a little over 34,000 hectares of vines, the Champagne AOC represents just 4% of France’s total vineyard area, or 0.5% of world vineyard acreage. It is nevertheless the top producer in terms of turnover.
In 1912 winegrower’s son Henri Lhopital decided to create his own Champagne House. In 1952 his own son André devised the brand name “J. de Telmont”, taking inspiration from a particular vineyard plot and adopting the motto, Nec Pluribus Impar (rarely matched). In 2020 André’s grandchildren sold their majority stake to Rémy Cointreau, marking that group’s comeback in Champagne.
The Champagne Houses