Vintage and Non Vintage (NV) Champagnes

Champagne is a fantastic drink, and although the word is sometimes used for any sparkling wine, it is specifically a wine made using specific techniques from the Champagne region of France, and made of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier grapes. Nothing tastes remotely like it, although there are other good sparkling wines made in region s as diverse as Australia, California, and even Massachusetts.

Vintage Champagnes are produced only in great years and consist of grapes from just that year. They are produced only in exception years and are on the whole much better, and more expensive wines, expressing the characteristics of that particular year. Recent great vintage years include 1985, 1988, 1990, 1996, and 2000, although some producers also made vintage wines in other years. Each vintage will taste different, often substantially different. For example the 1988 vintage produced powerful long lasting wines, while the 1989 vintage produced more elegant and easier going wines. Contrast this to other regions, for example Bordeaux, where every year vintage wines are made.

Why does Champagne have a unique taste? It is the terrior, a French word roughly meaning the environment, which includes the weather, the air, and of course the soil. Just like Maine Lobsters do not taste quite like New Jersey Lobsters, Champagne does not quite taste like other sparkling wines even if the same cellar techniques and grape varieties are used.
Champagne falls into two categories, vintage and non vintage. Non vintage, often abbreviated NV, is the most common by far. NV is made from a blend of grapes from different years, and the goal is to produce a wine that always tastes the same regardless of what year it was made. For example Moet and Chandon’s White Star always tastes the same, year after year. Consistency is the key with NV, and greater years are  blended with lesser years to produce a consistent and very good product.

Some Champagne houses also have what is called their prestige cuvee, the best and very expensive wine from their absolute best grapes. These are vintage wines, and well known examples include Cristal, Bollinger Grande Annee, Dom Perignon, and La Grande Dame.

Champagne is a great every day wine, but is usually associated with celebrations due to cost and other reasons like traditon. It’s an exceptionally food friendly wine and goes very well with eggs, chicken, seafood of any type, and many other foods. Try ope ning a bottle someday just because, and enjoy with a simple meal, even pizza, for a real treat.

About the Author

For more on Champagne, please visit Champagne and Aubry Champagne where you can learn much more. There is a world of difference and tastes among these wines, among the greatest in the world, and they are not all very expensive either.

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