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The Champagne region lays to the North East of France and the climate is dominated by the northern latitudes and also with the effect that the Atlantic Ocean has on this area. The summers are cool and frosts in the spring can be a problem for the fruit - in fact, producers spray water over the vines to protect them from the frost.
The soils are mainly chalky. There is a very thick sub-layer of chalk and the topsoils range from clay to sand, lignite and marl.
The main grape varieties grown in the region are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. They can struggle to ripen enough to achieve the desired quality for red or white still wines and the finished product is normally a blend of wines from different sites, with older wine added to the new to create the desired finished article.
Champagnes can be white or rosé, which is made either by leaving the black Pinot Noir grape skins in until the juice is tinted, or by blending red and white wine.
In 2005, there were only 20 producers of organic or biodynamic champagne (a mere 95 hectares). Our partner in this region is Erick Schrieber and we will be featuring a range of his biodynamic champagnes from October.
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