Show best champagne Is 13 from first of press the term champagne which refers to an effervescent wine produced originally in the province of champagne france signifies method rather than locality of production states a writer in the indianapolis news champagnes champagney Champ agnes are pale straw or pink in color the first from the press constitute the vin du cuvee buvee and produce the finest sparkling wine while the other pressings go to form inferior qualities both of wine and brandy from the presses the must flows directly into reservoirs from which it is drawn off into vats after standing for several hours until it is comparatively ively clear it ft Is transferred to casks in which it is stored until fermentation takes place at the beginning of the following year the wine is racked off and fined when it is ready for blending that is combining various vintages until the proper quality and flavor are obtained at this stage the wine is also tested for sugar strength for its effervescence depends on the amount of sugar contained in the wine before secondary fermentation the possibility of rendering champagne effervescent was discovered accidentally by dom Per ignon a benedictine monk in the seventeenth century it if too much sugar is added too much gas will form with too great bottle breakage too little sugar will not give sufficient sparkle the blended wine then Is bottled and undergoes this second process of fermentation which converts the sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid causing effervescence in spite of the care which usually is taken the loss from bottle breakage usually is about 10 per cent |