 One of the main determinants of the style of a champagne is the varietal blend. Pinot Noir gives rich, long-lived wines, bringing strength, backbone, power and grip to blend.
Pinot Meunier is a relative of Pinot Noir. Some have regarded it as inferior and more rustic, but this view is belied by the importance of Meunier in the Krug blend. As a grape, it has several notable advantages - it buds later and has better resistance to cold. It ripens well in poor years, and has better acidity. For these reasons, it is usually planted on lesser slopes. It gives fruitiness to the blend and shows yeastiness well, and accounts for 26% of plantings. This is a grape whose popularity is on the rise.
Chardonnay resists cold well. It buds early, which makes it susceptible to frost, but ripens early as well. It gives elegance and finesse to the blend as well as a slightly steely character.
Other grape varieties were once present in Champagne. Although there are no new plantings allowed, some still exist, including pockets of Petit Meslier, Arbanne, Pinot Blanc, and Gamay. Little remains of these grapes, and most have been replanted to Pinot Noir.
 Manual harvesting of the grapes is mandatory in Champagne. They are picked into small plastic buckets and transported to the press house, which is sometimes located directly in the vineyard to reduce travel time. The whole bunches of grapes are pressed very gently, traditionally in basket presses, which yield very pure juice because the thick layer of grapes acts as a filter for the juice. Today, however, regulations also permit more modern types of press.
 The amount that could be pressed was formerly measured in increments of the 205-liter barrel common in the region. There were 10 barrels of first press or cuvée (2050 lit.), two barrels (410 lit.) of second press or taille, and one barrel (205 lit.) of hard press or deuxième taille. This was changed in 1990, however, and the current limit is 2550 liters.
 Most juice or must is fermented in stainless steel vats to preserve the crisp, refreshing fruit, while a few producers still use the traditional barrels for complexity. Champagne Krug is the only house to ferment all of its base wines in barrel. Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is commonly practiced after the initial fermentation to soften the wine and help it develop its future aromatic richness, although this step is at the discretion of the producer.
Once the MLF of the base wines is finished, the wines to be bottled are blended. The blending process is another of the main determinants of quality in Champagne. Champagne is a blend of grapes, a blend of wine from different villages, different vineyards from the same village, and sometimes a blend of different parcels within each vineyard. Champagne is also often a blend of vintages because the region is located north of the outer limits for wine grape production and harvests are often inconsistent.
Blending has many advantages - it can increase complexity by adding lots that underwent MLF with lots that didn’t, barrel fermented lots with tank fermented lots, lots fermented at different temperatures or subject to different pressure when pressed (cuvée and taille). Consistency is also ensured through this blending process, which is one secret of the product's success. Just as a painter can paint a more subtle painting with a broad variety of colors, a winemaker increases the complexity of the wine when he has access to a large number of potential lots for his blend.
 After blending, the wine is bottled, and a mixture of yeast and sugar are added, and the bottles are capped. This addition of yeast, known as the liqueur de tirage, is what produces the secondary fermentation. The liqueur de tirage is a mixture of wine, sugar and selected yeast culture. 24 grams of sugar will produce 6 atmospheres of pressure, which is most common, raising ABV by 1.5%. Crémant is a less frothy style, produced by adding about 14 g.
 The length of aging is the third main determinant of quality for Champagne. As the yeast consumes the sugar, it gives off carbon dioxide, creating bubbles. When no more sugar remains, the yeast dies. Under the influence of the alcohol, the yeast begins to break down in a process known as yeast autolysis.
This yeast autolysis produces the yeasty, biscuity, brioche-like bread dough aromas on top of the fruit that is the hallmark of truly fine Champagne. This process begins only after two years of aging, so houses that age their Champagne longer have better depth of flavor and concentration. After the yeast completes its work, the wines rest sur lattes at 10°C. The legal minimum is 15 months for non-vintage and three years for vintage, although these periods are often exceeded. During this time, the wine is occasionally shaken and restacked, a procedure known as poignetage.
During the course of the aging process, the bubbles also get smaller and finer. Very fine bubbles are the mark of well-made Champagne because it indicates a longer aging period. The smaller bubble caresses the mouth rather than assaulting it. It gives the Champagne a creamy texture rather than an aggressive one similar to Coca Cola.
Towards the end of the aging period, the riddling or remuage begins. Remuage is the turning of each bottle 1/8 of a rotation each day and slowly inclining the bottle. 70% of remuage today is mechanical (using the Champarex and gyropalette systems). The process takes three days by machine, but six weeks when done by hand. Once the lees have settled finer champagnes are stacked vertically (sur pointes) for up to 5 years and even longer of further maturation. The flavor and texture is further enhanced by this increased period of contact with the lees.
The dead yeast cells are removed in the disgorgement process after riddling. This process of removing the dead yeast cells takes place in one of two ways. For their removal à la glace the necks of the bottles are dipped in freezing brine, and when the plug of ice containing the sediment is formed the bottles are turned upside down by a machine and the cap is removed. The carbon dioxide dissolved in the wine pushes the plug out. This process is sometimes performed by hand, or à la voleé: bottles sealed with cork will be disgorged by hand.
 Sugar and grape juice, known as the dosage, are then added to regulate the flavor, and give a consistent style from year to year. A lower dosage will produce an austere, long-lived wine, while a more generous one will give a wine that is fuller in body and richer in aroma.
Champagnes are referred to by different names according to the amount of sugar in the dosage, as measured in grams per liter (g/l). After the addition of the dosage, the bottles are corked, shaken to distribute the dosage, and labeled.
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