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Osmani Tavares Barbosa – Collection CIVC

At Reims Cathedral, Champagne’s Story Told in Stained Glass

Only in Reims, only in Reims. Champagne and church, only in Reims. In the south transept of Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, a series of stained-glass windows—three lancets, ten meters high—tell the tale of Champagne-in-the-making.

Completed in 1954 at the hands of Jacques Simon, his ancestor Pierre Simon had created the original resplendent stained-glass windows in 1640, half of which were destroyed during World War I.

Jacques Simon was inspired by the stained-glass windows of the Middle Ages featuring guild workers’ patron saints such as Saint Vincent, as well as biblical scenes, notably the Grapes of Canaan.

The story of Champagne begins with the working of the land, tilling its soil, and adhering to the delicate husbandry of the vines: from pruning and desuckering, to lifting and trellising, and thinning leaves to direct the plants’ energy for the fruit.

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This and all images below: Michel Jolyot – Collection CIVC

Harvest
Around 120,000 seasonal workers set to work for two to three weeks, each with a specific role: picker, porter, loader or forklift truck operator.
The harvest’s exact period is highly regulated, controlled to the day, for accurate timing of perfect ripeness.
Unlike other parts of the process, harvesting is still done by hand.
Pressing
After harvest, the grapes are sent as quickly as possible to pressing—the most traditional method being treading by foot, then by a mechanical press, and now by machines in pressure centers, which are separated by variety.
They are pressed delicately, juices are gently released, then settled and clarified.
First-stage fermentation begins.

Fermented, Blended, and Aged

This first alcoholic fermentation allows wine character to emerge; formerly done in oak barrels, now in stainless steel vats.

After fermentation, the base wines are ready for blending, as if a fine perfume; this is the art of Champagne. 

The blends are bottled, then give a second fermentation where the bubbles become alive, beginning a long maturation period on the “lees”.

All genuine Champagnes must spend at least 15 months maturing in the winemaker’s cellars; in reality, non-vintages spend 2-3 years. Vintage Champagne spends 4-10 years.

During this time, the age-old process of bottle turning involves rotating the bottle in small increments while gradually tilting it, to loosen the sediment and collect it in the bottle neck. Formerly done by hand, today “riddling”—as it’s called—is usually automated.
Then, disgorging—the bottle is quickly opened, expelling the sentiment with the pressure built up inside.
Dosage
This brief time of opening is a wonderful opportunity to add just a spoonful of sugar….dissolved in wine. The dosage. All the way from a “doux” Champagne at 50 grams of sugar per liter to a “brut nature” Champagne at less than 3 grams of sugar per liter of wine and no extra sugar.
Immediately after, the wine is corked and given a wire cage, or “muselet”, then shaken to be mixed, then put away for another few months before being labelled and released.

Here is the monk Dom Pérignon, a contemporary of Louis XIV, working on the method he elaborated and perfected in the Hautvillers Abbey in 1697, that of Champagne-making, then and now.

“Come, my brother, I am tasting the stars.”

Dom Pérignon