Champagne & Sparkling

Before anything else is taken into consideration, you know that all grapes are sourced locally in Champagne, an area of just over 34,000 hectares. And now over 40% of that growing area has been certified “sustainable”, meaning that biodiversity on the land is encouraged and improved. Spraying of pesticides and insecticides is either eliminated or drastically reduced. In fact, through improvement of methods producers have mostly been able to replace more than 50% of insecticides. Spraying that occurs, uses organic certified materials. Water management is carefully taken care of (including wastewater, which is now 100% recycled or treated). To achieve certification, the overall impact on the environment must be low.

So aside from the carbon footprint incurred by shipping Champagne from France, champagne delivery is one of the best choices if you’d like to reduce your impact on the environment when you shop for champagne in Hong kong.

Most commercially produced fizzy drinks such as coca cola, beer or soda have the bubbles artificially inserted using pure Carbon Dioxide (CO2). But there is nothing artificial about the bubbles in Champagne. Champagne is unique among wines as it goes through two fermentation processes, and it is the second one which is key to creating the bubbles.

During the second fermentation in the process, bubbles occur naturally when yeast converts the sugars present into alcohol – the bi-product is CO2. If you ever receive a champagne delivery and there are no bubbles and no “pop”, then something has gone wrong! At production, the bubbles should be kept in the bottle so that when you open your champagne delivery you hear a pop sound due to the release in pressure. Don’t worry, if you don’t open your champagne delivery, those bubbles will keep almost indefinitely. However, as soon as you open the bottle, the carbon dioxide will rapidly disappear, so be sure to have plenty of friends around to ensure the perfect champagne Hong Kong experience… finish the bottle in one sitting before the bubbles disappear!

You have probably seen “NV” listed as a search option on many champagne delivery websites, but what does it actually mean? It stands for Non-Vintage, and simply means that the grapes used can be from multiple different years. On the other hand, Vintage champagne must be made from grapes produced within a single year.

Within the market, Vintage champagne in Hong Kong is more sought after, as is the case around the world. It is generally accepted that single year champagne will taste better and be more unique or special, which in turn pushes the price up (it is of course more expensive to make too). When you receive your champagne delivery, be sure to check the bottle and label to make sure you have received the correct year from your champagne Hong Kong supplier.

The most common three types of grapes found in Champagne are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. More than 99% of Champagne produced uses these three grapes. Though there are four other lesser-known varieties, namely Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Petit Meslier and Arbane. Until recently these four “forgotten” grapes were barely used by Champagne houses, but with the effects of climate change being felt around the world, growers are starting to use them more to maintain the desired acidity in Champagne.

Champagne Hong Kong stockists carry a wide variety of champagnes using all seven different varieties. When you place an order for champagne delivery, why not ask the shop which grapes are in your champagne?

Unsurprisingly, France had the highest number of Champagne sales in the year 2021, selling a total of 102.2 million litres. The UK (22.6) and USA (20.5) came in second and third place, whilst Australia (16), Japan (10.7), Germany (8.4), Belgium (7.5), Italy (5) and Switzerland (4.8) made up the rest of the top ten. But watch this space, as champagne delivery to the USA rose in the year 2021, and even though there were less sales in the country, total shipments to the USA were greater than shipments to the UK for the first time.

As for champagne Hong Kong sales, well they are on the rise too. Champagne is in fact more popular than white wine in Hong Kong (almost double the number of imports). Last year, sparkling wines accounted for HKD815 million in imports. This can be seen in the rise of champagne delivery online stores, as well as from the apparent increase in champagne delivery options from retailers too.

In 2017, the champagne Hong Kong market was ranked 15th globally. Vintage Champagne Hong Kong imports are more than any other country in the world (as a proportion - imports in this case accounting for three times the amount of vintage champagne compared with total champagne imports). Furthermore, champagne Hong Kong's average spend per bottle is the second only to the USA, who spend more.

The great benefit of buying champagne online, is the vast amounts of information stores can present to you at your fingertips, to allow you to make a better purchase decision. When browsing in a physical store, you can only see what is on the back label, or what the clerk can tell you about the specific champagne you are looking at.

But a good online store should have collected data for you and present it clearly such as whether it is organic champagne. Online stores could also tell you if the champagne has any points status from Robert Parker, James Halliday, James Suckling and so on. Of course, you will also be able to see other customers’ reviews and if the store has an external trust rating from a site like Trustpilot.