Champagne for the Certified Sommelier exam: the study guide

The short answer: at Certified level the Court adds numbers and names to your Level 1 Champagne: how much juice a press load gives, how yields are set, every bottle size and its volume, the prestige wines of the great houses, the still wines Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys, and the vintages of the last ten years. In service, you must open and pour sparkling wine flawlessly.

The Certified Sommelier exam of the Court of Master Sommeliers Europe has three parts: a theory paper of 40 multiple-choice and short-answer questions, two wines tasted blind on the Court's grid, and a practical service test. You need 60% in each, and all three must be passed together. More in my Certified theory exam guide.

First, the Level 1 foundations

• Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier; the Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs and Côte des Bar.
• The traditional method, step by step, from pressing to dosage.
• The sweetness levels from Brut Nature to Doux, and the label terms.

If any of that is shaky, start with Champagne for Level 1.

Yields and extraction

• The pressing limit: at most 102 litres of juice from 160 kg of grapes.
• The marc: the traditional press load of 4,000 kg gives 2,550 litres, in two fractions: 2,050 litres of cuvée, the purest first juice, and 500 litres of taille, fruitier and softer, with less acidity. Pressings beyond the limit can't become Champagne.
• Whole bunches, pressed straight after picking, so the juice of black grapes stays white.
• The yield is set every year, in kilograms of grapes per hectare, by the Comité Champagne: 11,400 kg in 2023, 10,000 kg in 2024 and 9,000 kg in 2025. In good years growers may harvest a little extra for the reserve, which is used in short years.
• A useful number: the Comité counts about 1.2 kg of grapes per bottle.

Bottle sizes and volumes

• Bigger formats exist: up to the 27-litre Primat and the 30-litre Melchizedek.
• Exam favourite: standard bottles and magnums must be sold in the bottle where the second fermentation happened. Bottles under 37.5 cl or over 1.5 litres may be filled by transfer.
• Service number: a 75 cl bottle pours six glasses of 12.5 cl. See how much Champagne you need.

Quality marques: the prestige wines

For how to say these names, see how to pronounce Champagne houses.

Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys

• Coteaux Champenois: the appellation for still wines from the Champagne area, white, red or rosé, from the same grapes. Well-known examples are reds from Pinot Noir villages, such as Bouzy Rouge.
• Rosé des Riceys: a still rosé from Pinot Noir only, made around Les Riceys in the Aube, in the far south. Les Riceys is the one village entitled to all three of the region's appellations: Champagne, Coteaux Champenois and Rosé des Riceys.

Vintages of the last ten years

There is no official Champagne vintage chart, and each house decides alone whether to make a vintage. Learn the years from two sources: the harvest reports the Comité Champagne publishes every autumn (it called 2022 a “solar” vintage with healthy grapes and well-balanced acidity), and the vintages the main houses have actually released, with their own notes. Remember the timing too: a vintage needs 36 months after bottling, so a vintage reaches the market three or more years after its harvest. More in vintage Champagne.

The Comité Champagne

The Comité Champagne is the joint trade body of the growers and the houses, founded by a law of 12 April 1941. For the exam, know what it does: it sets each year's yield, manages the reserve, balances the interests of growers and houses, runs vineyard and cellar research, and protects the name Champagne around the world. The appellation rules themselves are approved by the INAO, France's appellation authority.

Service: sparkling wine at Certified level

• The Court's list: recommend the right style and quality level, offer alternatives, open, serve, pour and refill, and carry a tray of glasses.
• Opening: keep your thumb on the cork from the moment the cage loosens. Turn the bottle, not the cork, and let the gas out with a sigh, not a pop.
• Pouring: bottle held low at the base, thumb in the punt; pour in two steps so the foam doesn't overflow.
• Temperature: 8 to 10°C, the Comité Champagne's advice; an ice bucket with water and ice.

More practice in my Certified service exam tips.

Quick quiz

For daily theory practice, SOMM DIGI AI has 3,000+ exam-prep questions and 35 Certified flashcard decks. And for the bigger picture, see learning Champagne at every level.

Questions people ask