France

France

Champagne, Crémants and ancestral-method wines

France has sparkling appellations in most of its wine regions, from Champagne in the north-east to Limoux and Gaillac in the south-west. Most use the traditional method with at least 9 months on the lees; a few keep the older ancestral method with a single fermentation.^1,2

Champagne and the Crémants

Champagne was recognised as an AOC in 1936 and is the strictest French sparkling appellation on ageing: 15 months from tirage before release, 36 for vintage wines.⁷ The Crémant appellations came later: Bourgogne and Loire in 1975, Alsace in 1976, Limoux and Bordeaux in 1990, Die in 1993 and Jura in 1995.^{6,5,1,8,9,10,11} In Savoie, "Crémant" is a mention within AOC Savoie rather than a separate appellation.¹² Most Crémants share one rule: 9 months on the lees and release no earlier than 12 months after tirage.^1,5

Ancestral-method wines

Clairette de Die, Gaillac, Bugey Cerdon and the Limoux méthode ancestrale make wine from a single fermentation finished in the bottle, without a liqueur de tirage.^2,13,14,15 See ancestral method.

Appellations and ageing

Several figures come from draft modification texts submitted to the national opposition procedure. Each appellation page gives the text and its date.

Appellation	Method	Minimum on lees
Champagne	traditional	12 months before disgorgement, 15 months before release⁷
Crémant d'Alsace	traditional	9 months¹
Crémant de Bourgogne	traditional	9 months⁶
Crémant de Loire	traditional	9 months⁵
Crémant du Jura	traditional	9 months¹¹
Crémant de Limoux	traditional	more than 9 months⁸
Crémant de Bordeaux	traditional	9 months⁹
Crémant de Die	traditional	not stated; release after 12 months from tirage¹⁰
Crémant de Savoie	traditional	9 months¹²
Blanquette de Limoux	traditional¹⁶	not verified
Blanquette méthode ancestrale	ancestral¹⁵	not verified
Clairette de Die	ancestral or traditional	4 months (ancestral), 9 months (traditional)²
Vouvray	traditional	12 months of ageing from tirage¹⁷
Montlouis-sur-Loire	traditional or single fermentation	9 months¹⁸
Saumur	traditional	9 months¹⁹
Touraine	traditional	9 months²⁰
Bugey Cerdon	ancestral	2 months (2010 draft text)¹⁴
Gaillac	ancestral or traditional	2 months (ancestral), 9 months (traditional)¹³
Seyssel	traditional	9 months (2014 draft text)²¹

Champagne country also has two still-wine AOCs: Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys.^22,23

Champagne and the Crémants

Ancestral-method wines

Appellations and ageing

See also

Sources