The true art of champagne production is the so-called «assemblage», the blending of wines. In this process, different basic wines are blended into one wine. champagne is never just a single wine. In the best champagne houses, countless different base wines from a first fermentation are available for the assemblage. Here, the winemaker plays with the diversity of nature, with the location, the grape varieties and the vintages. Human knowledge, talent and feeling are added as the fourth dimension of the assemblage.
The uniqueness and expressiveness of the Champagne terroir are reflected in the multi-faceted personalities and endless variations of Champagne wines. The blending of wines from different grape varieties allows for the formation of subtle contrasts and complementary characteristics. With experience from the vineyards, a practised sensory memory and a great deal of creativity, the cellar master blends basic wines with different aromatic and organoleptic characteristics. The overall work of art surpasses the basic wines in terms of quality and delights us with a balance that nature would not be able to produce without human intervention.
Usually a blend of different vintage wines, in particularly good wine years champagne is made from a single vintage of grapes. For vintageless champagnes, usually about 70% base wines from the current year and 30% reserve wines from previous years are used. This allows producers to bring a very similar champagne to market each year and thus continue their «house style». Only champagnes made from base wines of a specific year are allowed to bear the title «Vintage Champagne» (Vintage).
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