Champagne is a unique product born of the shared heritage of Wine growers. Their wines are made from the grapes grown and harvested in Champagne, northeast of France, and then produced under the strict regulations of the Champagne appellation.
So that you can learn and understand more about how this so-called drink is produced and that delights everyone. GastroVino Academy has prepared this special content for you. Come with us!
In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.
– Napoleon Bonaparte
Jump To Section
Champagne Process
You can also watch this and other exclusive GA Originals on YouTube.
The process in which Champagne is made is called Traditional, formerly known as the Méthode Champenoise.
This Method was awarded as a UNESCO heritage in Champagne in 2015. It is the most appreciated method in terms of quality and the most costly winemaking.
Basically, the traditional method transforms still wine into sparkling wine entirely inside the bottle.
First, a Base Wine or “Cuvée” is made as regular wine, like pressing grapes and alcoholic fermentation occurs normally. Then, the winemaker takes the various base wines and blends them together.
Yeast and sugars are added to the cuvée to start the second fermentation, and wines are bottled and closed with crown caps to hold the pressure and later replaced by cork. This process is called Triage.
The second fermentation happens inside the bottle adding alcohol and CO2, thus carbonating the wine. Because there is no more sugar, the fermentation process is over, and the yeasts die in a process called autolysis and remain in the bottle.
Autolysis refers to the destruction of a cell through the action of its own enzymes.
Wines are aged on their dead lees for a period of time to develop texture. Usually, Champagne requires at least 15 months of aging and vintage 36 months.
After resting, the bottles must be moved and rotated to loosen the dead less sediments.
Remuage
The ridding process, most known as ‘remuage’, causes the sediment to collect in the neck of the bottle in preparation for Disgorgement.
Remuage involves the gradual tilting of the bottle neck-down meanwhile rotating it in small increments, clockwise and anti-clockwise. As the angle of tilt increases, the forces of gravity draw the sediment into the neck.
This process can be done by a cellar master that can handle roughly 40,000 bottles a day, with the bottles placed neck down in a wooden trestle or ‘pupitre’.
The bottles are rotated by stages, 1/8 or 1/4 of a turn at a time, to the right or left to consolidate the sediments and leave the wine crystal clear.
With, on average 25 turns per bottle, manual remuage takes 4 to 6 weeks.
Automated remuage is now much more common, using a gyro-palette machine that can process 500 bottles in a single operation, working 24 hours a day, taking one week instead of six without compromising the quality.
After the remuage is complete it is time to remove sediment from the bottle in a process called Disgorgement.
Disgorgement
The process of disgorgement is to eliminate the deposit collected in the bottle’s neck as a result of the remuage process. It is the grand finale of Champagne wine after many months of peaceful maturation on lees.
The neck of the bottle is plunged into a refrigerating solution at -27°C. The sediment forms like a frozen plug and is then ejected under pressure when the bottle is opened, with a minimum loss of wine and pressure. Disgorgement can be mechanical or by hand.
Dosage is the last step before final corking. It is a mixture of wine and sugar called liqueur d’expédition’ that is added to fill bottles and add extra flavors and aromas, according to the winemaker.
Added Quantity
The quantity added to Champagne will determine its style in:
- doux or sweet more than 50 g sugar/l
- demi-sec 32 to 50 g sugar/l
- sec 17 to 32 g sugar/l
- extra dry 12 to 17 g sugar/l
- brut less than 12 g sugar/l
- extra brut 0-6 g sugar/l
- brut nature means zero dosage.
The role of dosage in the wine’s sensory development varies according to the style of the Champagne.
The winemaker can add a mixture of sugar and the same wine as the bottle holds or if an additional touch of aroma is thought desirable, the liqueur de dosage may be made with reserve wine, which means the addition of other great Champagne wines that was set aside for long aging in casks, barrels or even magnums.
As a result, the winemaker adds extra flavors, creating a perfect finishing touch.
Before dosage, winemakers taste different liqueurs and select the one with the most complementary characteristics.
After the dosage process, champagne bottles are ready to be corked, wired, and labeled.
Did you like this article?
I hope this article has improved your wine skills. To learn more about wines, take a look at the Sauvignon Blanc: The Enthusiast’s Guide To Wine Lovers.
Leave a comment below and share our content.
Help our community grow by following our social media on Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and Tiktok. And stay up to date with the news from the world of Gastronomy.
Don’t forget to tag @gastrovinoacademy on Instagram and hashtag it #gastrovinoacademy.
Cheers 🍷
