DID YOU KNOW? - Production
What are the main steps in producing a méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine?
- Picking the grapes
- Pressing the grapes
- Producing the base wine
- Assemblage, or blending
- Secondary fermentation in bottle
- Ageing
- Remuage, or riddling
- Dégorgement, or disgorging
- Adding the dosage
- Corking
- Labelling and packaging
Why does one refer to méthode traditionnelle today rather than méthode champenoise?
Although the methods are exactly the same, the name méthode champenoise is now legally restricted to wines from the Champagne region of France (appellation Champagne contrôlée).
After the harvest, the grapes are pressed to release the juice. This is limited to one pressing of 4,000 kilos of grapes producing no more than 2,050 litres of juice.
What purpose do "reserve wines" serve?
During the assemblage, or final blend, the winemaker chooses the best wines to prepare a given cuvée.
A stock of reserve wines enables him to cope with unforseeable weather conditions affecting a wine in a given vintage and to combine the complementarity characteristics of different years.
Seeking a subtle balance, the winemaker blends various wines every year in order to stay faithful to the Bernard-Massard style.
How many fermentations are necessary to produce a bottle of méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine?
Two:
1 to produce the wine: alcoholic fermentation
1 to produce natural effervescence in the bottle
What purpose does the dosage serve?
This mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast added at bottling produces CO2 gas during fermentation in bottle.
What does ageing consist of?
During this stage, the bottles are stored on their sides, sur lattes, i.e. on wooden slats. After the wine has re-fermented in the bottle, the yeast produces tertiary aromas that are essential to the wine's bouquet: heather, candied fruit, toast, vanilla, spice, forest floor, etc.
What is remuage (riddling)?
After ageing (for one to three years, depending ont the quality), every bottle is kept at an angle and riddled i.e. gradually turned and shaken so that the yeast deposit will gradually spiral down to the neck of the bottle.
What is dégorgement (disgorging)?
Once the yeast has settled on the cork, the small amount of wine containing the sediment is frozen at neck level in a special solution at -24° C and then ejected.
What purpose does the liqueur d'expédition serve?
This term describes a solution of wine and sugar that replaces the volume lost during disgorging. It determines the style of wine.
Whether the wine is Brut or Demi-Sec depends on the amount of sugar added.
How many grams of sugar per litre are there in a bottle of wine?
Brut ? < 15 g
Demi-Sec? 33 to 50 g
Why is a wire cage added to the cork?
Fermentation in bottle produces CO2 (i.e. bubbles).
At this point, the pressure in the bottle is about 6 bars. However, disgorging reduces this by approximately 1 bar.
When the wine is ready to be corked and labelled, the pressure is thus 4.5 to 5 bars.
A wire cage is put around the cork to resist the pressure and to keep the cork firmly in place.
How many different capsules do Bernard-Massard use for their various products?
It is up to you to find out, and to complete your collection!
