Crémant de Bourgogne - sparkling wines which express the quintessence of Burgundy
Crémant might sound like some insanely expensive high-end yogurt made from yoga-practicing cows on Gwyneth Paltrow’s biodynamic farm. So what is Crémant?
The word Crémant originated in the Champagne region. Until 1985, it was used to designate sparkling wines made in Champagne that were less effervescent than ‘fully sparkling’ Champagne. Champagne wines have 5-6 bars of atmospheric pressure whereas Crémant wines typically had less than 4 bars of atmospheric pressure. Crémant literally means creamy, and that’s what the bubbles were—less of a bracing caviar-pop and more of a soft velvety sparkle.
Today, it's a group of sparkling wines made in eight different appellations throughout France and can also be found in neighboring Luxembourg. Crémant employs labor-intensive secondary bottle fermentation, known as ‘methode champenoise’ (also known as ‘traditional method’), as does Champagne. Other than this, Crémant producers have to observe the following rules:
- Grapes must be hand-harvested
- Grapes may be whole bunch pressed or they may be destemmed
- The quantity of must obtained from the pressed grapes cannot exceed 100 liters for every 150 kg of grapes;
- While Crémant wines follow the same sweetness and dosage parameters as Champagne the finished wines cannot exceed a dosage of more than 50g/l sugar.
- Crémant wines must age for at least 9 months on the lees before being disgorged, and then an additional three months before release to the market.
Crémant de Bourgogne came into being in October 1975, for white and rosé sparkling wines alone. The terroirs - or ‘climats’ - of Crémant de Bourgogne vary considerably, as the appellation covers nearly 400 parishes throughout Burgundy.
This bottle of Crémant de Bourgogne was produced at Domaine Louis Tête located in Bully, a commune in Rhône-Alpes, where the soils are mostly granites, producing rounder kind of wines. It's Brut in style, which means that content of residual sugar is no more than 12 grams/liter. Aged for 12-15 months on slats, it comes gold yellow in colour, with delicate fizzing. Fruity nose with exotic fruits and citrus. On the palate citrus fruits with white flowers and buttery note.
It's perfect as the aperitif, but also pairs nicely with sushi, gravlax salmon, or with dessert like pear pie.
🍇 35% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Noir, 20% Gamay, 20% Aligoté🌎 Crémant de Bourgogne AOP, Burgundy
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