Champagne categorizations such as dominant grape variety, brut, extra brut, brut zéro, or " RC, RM, SR, ND, MA..." are not always understood by non-specialists. "Consumers are more receptive to simple, straightforward talk about the taste of wine and the pleasure it can bring than to the technical vocabulary of specialists. "Les empreintes" appeals to the register of sensations, more evocative for each and every one of us.
In 2019, the Syndicat Général des Vignerons has therefore launched a collective Champagne de Vignerons banner of 4,300 winegrowers and cooperatives, a categorization built around three major aromatic families: "empreintes": "Fruit", "Soil", and "Cellar".
These profiles will be used to promote the diversity of champagnes produced by winegrowers, inviting connoisseurs to discover these multiple cuvées according to their tastes, expectations and pleasures. Each imprint is accompanied by a description of its aromas and terroir of origin, with links to the world of gastronomy. These descriptions can be found on the "Empreintes Champagne" website or in the "Carnet d'Empreintes" available from your wine merchant.
Thanks to simple, striking pictograms on the back labels of bottles of winemakers' Champagne, each cuvée is easily identifiable.
Fruit footprint
These champagnes tend more towards fleshy stone fruit aromas, such as plum, apricot, cherry or peach. These are champagnes with a gourmet touch, notably from clay soils. There are also floral notes: rose, jasmine, honeysuckle, lilac, wallflower... These champagnes are ideal with gourmet dishes, white meats or soft, washed-rind cheeses such as Munster, Livarot, Maroilles...
Ground footprint
These are lively champagnes, particularly suited to chalk soils. They feature citrus notes such as lemon, orange, tangerine and grapefruit, as well as fresh floral notes of acacia, hawthorn and peony. These champagnes are the perfect accompaniment to iodized dishes, shellfish, raw fish, fresh cheeses and exotic flavors.
The cellar footprint
These champagnes are matured for several years in the winegrowers' cellars, sometimes in barrel. It's important to remember that the wine evolves throughout its life in the cellar, before the bottle is uncorked. The marl soils give them power. They express aromas of candied fruit, figs, walnuts, honey, vanilla or spices, sometimes with roasted or smoky notes. They go perfectly with white meats in sauce, sweetbreads, truffles, foie gras, blue-veined meats, mature cheeses, or firm-fleshed fish (tuna, sole, red mullet, etc.).
The simplest thing for the consumer is to try all three first, and then refine your preferred sensation and taste.
