LESSON #5: How Do Sparkling Wines Get Their Bubbles? (Part 1/2)
The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon
ONE of the most frequently asked questions in wine is "how does Champagne get its bubbles?"
There are actually several ways. The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon.
There are actually several ways. The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon.
This process involves a second fermentation of the wine sealed inside the bottle. Carbon Dioxide emits during fermentation, creating pressure when trapped in sealed bottle with nowhere to go but to dissolve itself back into the liquid as bubbles into the wine.
So there you have it, Champagne is made, simple enough.
Well, not quite I'm afraid. The process itself is a bit more complex than that. But it's easy to understand. Let's quickly run through it, shall we?
Step 1: We start with dry still white wine – called the base wine or cuvèe - no bubbles and usually quite high in acidity, not delicious to drink actually
Step 2: The wine enters the bottle and a bit of life yeast is added before sealing to provoke a secondary fermentation which produces carbon dioxide and creates immense pressure inside the bottle.
Step 3: The bottles are stored upside down. In preparation for getting rid of the solids, a process called remuage or riddling is performed. Essentially each bottle is rotated a little regularly. This helps the solids to slide down into the mouth of the bottle, and why? Read on.
Step 4: We have to get rid of the solids from the wine, easily done normally when there is no extreme pressure inside the bottle to spill out the wine along with the solids. A process of degorgement takes place. First a neck portion of the bottle is frozen in brine. Then the bottle is uncorked, pressure inside the bottle jettisons the bit of frozen wine and the solids out of the bottle. With perfect timing to a few milliseconds, spillage is halted right after the solids are thrown out.
Step 5: Before resealing, the bottle is topped up with a "dosage" of wine, sugar and even a bit of grape spirit to achieve a consistent style, the right degree of dryness and alcohol strength.
There are a few variations to this method, mostly in Step 2 with the objective of avoiding the very expensive processes in Step 3 and 4. For example, there is the Charmat or tank method in which secondary fermentation takes place in a (large) sealed tank.
Pressure again causes carbon dioxide created from fermentation to dissolve into the wine while solids are created containing dead yeasts. The sparkling wine is filtered and transferred into a pressurized tank to "decant" away the solids. The wine is bottled from that tank. A lot of Proseccos are made this way.
Click here to read Part 2
So there you have it, Champagne is made, simple enough.
Well, not quite I'm afraid. The process itself is a bit more complex than that. But it's easy to understand. Let's quickly run through it, shall we?
Step 1: We start with dry still white wine – called the base wine or cuvèe - no bubbles and usually quite high in acidity, not delicious to drink actually
Step 2: The wine enters the bottle and a bit of life yeast is added before sealing to provoke a secondary fermentation which produces carbon dioxide and creates immense pressure inside the bottle.
Step 3: The bottles are stored upside down. In preparation for getting rid of the solids, a process called remuage or riddling is performed. Essentially each bottle is rotated a little regularly. This helps the solids to slide down into the mouth of the bottle, and why? Read on.
Step 4: We have to get rid of the solids from the wine, easily done normally when there is no extreme pressure inside the bottle to spill out the wine along with the solids. A process of degorgement takes place. First a neck portion of the bottle is frozen in brine. Then the bottle is uncorked, pressure inside the bottle jettisons the bit of frozen wine and the solids out of the bottle. With perfect timing to a few milliseconds, spillage is halted right after the solids are thrown out.
Step 5: Before resealing, the bottle is topped up with a "dosage" of wine, sugar and even a bit of grape spirit to achieve a consistent style, the right degree of dryness and alcohol strength.
There are a few variations to this method, mostly in Step 2 with the objective of avoiding the very expensive processes in Step 3 and 4. For example, there is the Charmat or tank method in which secondary fermentation takes place in a (large) sealed tank.
Pressure again causes carbon dioxide created from fermentation to dissolve into the wine while solids are created containing dead yeasts. The sparkling wine is filtered and transferred into a pressurized tank to "decant" away the solids. The wine is bottled from that tank. A lot of Proseccos are made this way.
Click here to read Part 2
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