Discovery / Wines & Blends / Champagne: The Wine
Wines & Blends · Follow your curiosity
Champagne: The Wine
The place gives Champagne its name. Grapes, still-wine blending and a second fermentation in the bottle give each cuvée its own voice.
A little acquaintance, at a glance.
- Origin
- Champagne, France
- Main grapes
- Chardonnay · Pinot Noir · Meunier
- Bubbles
- Second fermentation in bottle
- Blend
- Grapes, places and sometimes years
What goes into Champagne?
| Grape | A useful starting point |
|---|---|
| Chardonnay | Freshness, finesse and citrus or floral possibilities. |
| Pinot Noir | Body, structure and red-fruit possibilities. |
| Meunier | Fruit and roundness; an important grape in its own right. |
These three dominate plantings, but other authorised varieties exist. Champagne can combine several grapes or be made from just one. A white Champagne can use dark-skinned grapes because careful pressing can separate pale juice from the skins.
The blend before the bubbles
The cellar team first works with still base wines. Blending can draw on different parcels, grape varieties and reserve wines from earlier harvests. A vintage Champagne represents a particular harvest; a non-vintage or multi-vintage wine can combine years. Neither label means that every bottle has the same grape composition.
Follow the bottle through the cellar
Second fermentation
Yeast and sugar are added at tirage. Fermentation in the closed bottle produces carbon dioxide, which becomes the sparkle.
Lees and riddling
Time with the spent yeast shapes the wine. Riddling gradually moves sediment into the neck, using wooden racks or automated cages.
Disgorgement and finishing
The sediment is expelled. Dosage, where used, helps set the final sweetness, before the finished cork and wire cage are fitted.
A few useful label clues
Blanc de blancs means white wine from white grapes, commonly Chardonnay in Champagne. Blanc de noirs means white wine from dark grapes, commonly Pinot Noir and/or Meunier. Rosé describes colour; the producer’s notes explain its route and blend. Brut concerns sweetness, not grape variety.
A small Cork Dork discovery
Give your curiosity a little room.
Compare a blanc de blancs with a Champagne made from several grapes. Match the sweetness category if possible, and use ordinary wine glasses. Notice texture and fruit before deciding whether you prefer one.
Your observations, your words. Small pours welcome.
A few questions worth uncorking.
Is every Champagne a blend of all three main grapes?
No. Single-grape Champagnes belong here too. Even those may combine parcels or wine lots.
Are riddling racks still used?
Yes, but much riddling today is automated. Both move sediment into the neck before disgorgement.
Where shall we wander next?
Champagne, the region →Meet Chardonnay →Meet Pinot Noir →Veuve Clicquot →Making Bubbles →Corks, cages & closures →Behind this introduction
Editorial sources checked 23 October 2026. Composition, production rules and cellar practices can vary by appellation, producer and vintage. The producer’s notes are the place to check a particular bottle.
Meet Meunier under both familiar names.
Meunier / Pinot Meunier now has its own grape profile. It is one grape counted once, whether a producer uses it alone or in a Champagne blend.