The Marne Valley. Pinot country in the heart of Champagne.

Where Pinot Meunier shines

All three classic Champagne grapes grow in the Marne Valley, but the Pinots rule. Pinot Meunier buds late and copes well with frost, which makes it ideal for the cooler, clay- and limestone-rich parts of the valley. It brings youthful fruit and freshness, fleshing out Pinot Noir and softening the taut elegance of Chardonnay in a blend.

Pinot Noir needs more care, since it buds early, but on the warmer south-facing slopes it ripens fully and gives red fruit, fine spice and a velvety structure. These red grapes are pressed very gently so that only clear juice runs off, which is how they become white Champagne, including the powerful, red-fruited style called Blanc de Noirs.

A wine merchant in the episode explains how Meunier is changing. Once a high-yield blending tool for big houses, it now appears in tiny single-plot, single-vintage cuvées from ambitious growers.

Épernay, Aÿ and the great houses

Épernay is the capital of Champagne. The railway that arrived in 1849 opened new markets for the merchants and helped fund the grand mansions of the Avenue de Champagne, where Claude Moët dug the first cellars in 1743. Moët & Chandon created Dom Pérignon, the first commercial prestige cuvée, launched in 1936. Bollinger, founded in 1829 and still family-owned, is known for rich, full-bodied Champagnes and its rare Vieilles Vignes Françaises, made from ungrafted Pinot Noir.

The subregion is also home to Bollinger, Philipponnat, Billecart-Salmon and Ayala, among others. Aÿ and Tours-sur-Marne are its Grand Cru villages. Along the way the hosts visit landmarks such as Château de Boursault, built for Madame Clicquot, and the memorials to the Battle of the Marne, where vineyard workers still sometimes uncover remains from the First World War.

From monks to the échelle des crus

Was Dom Pérignon really the inventor of Champagne? The episode tells a more surprising story, involving English glassmakers, a 1662 paper by Christopher Merret and a 1728 royal decree that allowed wine to travel in bottles. Ruinart, founded in 1729, followed soon after as the first house devoted to sparkling wine.

You will also learn how the Champagne AOC was created in 1927 and how the échelle des crus worked. Introduced in 1911, it gave each village a score from 100% down to 80% that set the price of its grapes. The scoring system is gone, but the 17 Grand Cru and 43 Premier Cru villages it produced still carry real prestige. Unlike in Bordeaux or Burgundy, a Champagne cru is a whole village.

Hands-on at the press

At a traditional press, the hosts learn why gentle, progressive pressing in many steps matters so much for Champagne. Of the 2,550 liters allowed from a load of grapes, the first 2,050 are the cuvée and the last 500 the taille. Many producers say they never use the taille; this one explains why it can add bite to a cuvée. Then Susie and Andreas try their own muscle on the press.

Three Pinot Champagnes and a truffle pairing

Susie brings Henri Giraud’s multi-vintage MV19, made with a perpetual reserve and Argonne oak, and Bollinger R.D. 2008, a long lees-aged, recently disgorged version of the Grande Année. The third bottle is served blind to Andreas. See how close he gets to naming a legendary single-vineyard wine from a very steep slope.

For the food, chef Jérémy prepares confit pork neck with mushrooms, truffle jus and green asparagus. Andreas explains why mature, vinous Champagne can handle a dish that might normally call for red wine, and why the asparagus would have clashed with red wine tannins.

Go furtherStudying Champagne in depth? The Champagne Master-Level program from the Wine Scholar Guild is a natural next step after this episode.