Solera in Champagne?

When we talk about Solera we think of Sherry; we think of the enormous bodegas in Jerez, endless rows of barrels stacked up on top of one another blending all those vintages, some going back more than 100 years. If you say Sherry-style wines made in France, you think of the Jura with their biological ageing, but what about Champagne?

Barrel ageing the base wine in Champagne

I won’t spend too long explaining how a solera works; it’s essentially moving and mixing wine from different vintages between barrels. Some are over a hundred years old and contain traces of wine from when they were created. See drawing below.