Teens B2T4-Reading and Use of English 2 p. 86

Book page 86

Book Page 86

Read the text and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
Write your answers in CAPITAL LETTERS.

A brief history of Champagne

A brief history of Champagne
by Ethan Trex

Example

0. Strictly speaking, champagne is __A__ sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of Northeastern France. If it’s a bubbly wine from another region, it’s sparkling wine, not champagne. While many people use the term “champagne” generically for any sparkling wine, the French have maintained their legal right to call their wines champagne for over a century. The Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1891, established this rule, and the Treaty of Versailles reaffirmed it.

1. ____________ European Union helps us protect this exclusivity now,

2. although certain American producers ____________ still generically use “champagne” on their labels if they were using the term before early 2006.

How is it made?

How is it made?

3. Sparkling wines can be made in a variety of ways, but traditionally champagne comes to ____________ by a process called the méthode Champenoise. Champagne starts its life like any normal wine. The grapes are harvested, pressed and allowed to undergo primary fermentation.

4. The acidic results of this process are then blended and bottled with a bit of yeast and sugar or ____________ can undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle; it’s this secondary fermentation that gives champagne its bubbles. This new yeast starts doing its work on the sugar, and then dies and becomes what’s known as lees. The bottles are then stored horizontally so the wine can “age on lees” for 15 months or more.

5. After this aging, winemakers turn the bottles ____________ down so the lees can settle to the bottom.

6. Once the dead yeast ____________ settled, producers open the bottles to remove the yeast,

7. add a bit of sugar known as dosage to determine the sweetness of the champagne, and slip a cork ____________ the bottle.

The Champagne Region

The Champagne Region

Several factors make the chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes grown in the Champagne region particularly well suited for crafting delicious wines. The northern location makes it a bit cooler than France’s other wine-growing regions, which gives the grapes the proper acidity for sparkling wine production.

8. Moreover, the porous, chalky soil of the area the result of large earthquakes millions of years ____________ – aids in drainage.