The traditional method is the process used in the
Champagne region
The wine region within the historical province of Champagne in the northeast of France is best known for the production of champagne, the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name. EU law and the laws of most countries reserve the term ...
of France to produce
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
. It is also the method used in various French regions to produce sparkling wines (not called “Champagne”), in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
to produce
Cava, in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
to produce Espumante and in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
to produce
Franciacorta
The territory of Franciacorta, from Latin "franchae curtes", which means "exempted from paying duties", is a section of the Province of Brescia in the Italian Region of Lombardy. Franciacorta is known for its wine production and includes world-f ...
. The method is known as the ''méthode champenoise,'' but the Champagne producers have successfully lobbied the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
to restrict the use of that term within the EU only to wines produced in Champagne. Thus, wines from elsewhere cannot use the term "''méthode champenoise''" on products sold in the EU, and instead the term "traditional method" (''méthode traditionnelle'') or the local language equivalent (''método tradicional'' in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, ''metodo classico'' or ''metodo tradizionale'' in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
''klassische Flaschengärung'').
South African wine
South African wine has a history dating back to 1659 with the first bottle being produced in Cape Town by its founder and gouverner Jan van Riebeeck. Access to international markets led to new investment in the South African wine market. Produc ...
s from the
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...
are labelled with the term ''Methode Cap Classique''. Some wine producers in countries outside the EU may disregard EU labeling laws and use ''méthode champenoise'' or even “Champagne” on labels for products not exported to the EU, but this usage is decreasing.
As the traditional method is both labour and cost intensive, it is only viable for high-end sparkling wines. The
Charmat process
Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''.
Pressure and terminology
In popular parlance and also in the ...
is often used instead, in the production of cheaper sparkling wines, while
other methods exist as well.
Harvesting
Grapes are generally
picked earlier, when sugar levels are lower and acid levels higher. Except for pink or
rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method ...
sparkling wines, the juice of harvested grapes is
pressed off quickly, to keep the wine white.
Fermentation
The first fermentation begins in the same way as any wine, converting the natural sugar in the grapes into alcohol while the resultant carbon dioxide is allowed to escape. This produces the base wine. This wine is not very pleasant by itself, being too acidic. At this point the blend, known as the ''
cuvée'', is assembled, using wines from various vineyards, and, in the case of non-
vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
wine, various years.
After primary
fermentation
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...
, blending (''assemblage'' in Champagne) and bottling, a second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle.
Although known as the Champagne method and associated with the name of
Dom Pierre Pérignon in the late seventeenth century, the phenomenon of bottle fermentation was not unique to the Champagne region; it had already been used in
Limoux, south western France since 1531 for the production of
Blanquette de Limoux
Limoux wine is produced around the city of Limoux in Languedoc in southwestern France. Limoux wine is produced under four ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations: Blanquette de Limoux, Blanquette méthode ancestrale, Crémant de ...
.
Effervescence in wine was seen as a
fault at the time and Perignon devoted much effort trying to eliminate it from the wines of Champagne.
[S Clarke ''1000 Years of Annoying the French'' p176-181 Bantam Press 2010 ]
The process of secondary fermentation was first described by
Christopher Merrett in a paper to the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, which included his observation that this could be encouraged by adding sugar to the wine before bottling.
Concurrent improvements in
glass manufacture in England also permitted the making of more robust wine bottles to contain the effervescence without exploding.
Second fermentation
The blended wine is put in bottles along with yeast and a small amount of sugar, called the ''liqueur de tirage,'' stopped with a
crown cap or another temporary plug, and stored in a
wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system ...
horizontally for a second fermentation. Under the
Appellation d'origine contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...
(AOC), NV (non-vintage) Champagne is required to age for 15 months to develop completely. In years where the harvest is exceptional, a vintage (''millesime'') is declared and the wine must mature for at least three years.
During the secondary fermentation, the carbon dioxide is trapped in the wine in solution. The amount of added sugar determines the pressure of the bottle. To reach the standard value of 6
bars (600
kPa) inside the bottle, it is necessary to have 18 grams of sugar; the amount of yeast (''
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have b ...
'') is regulated by the European Commission (Regulation 1622/2000, 24 July 2000) to be 0.3 gram per bottle. The ''liqueur de tirage'' is then a mixture of sugar, yeast and still Champagne wine.
Aging on lees
Non-vintage Champagne wine is legally unsellable until 15 months’ in-bottle aging on
lees. Champagne's
AOC also requires vintage Champagnes age 3 years before
disgorgement, but most top producers hold bottles on lees for 6–8 years.
Riddling
After ageing, the lees must be consolidated for removal. The bottles undergo a process known as riddling (''remuage'' in French).
In this stage, the bottles are placed on special racks called ''pupitres'' that hold them at a 35° angle,
with the crown cap pointed down. Once a day (every two days for Champagne), the bottles are given a slight shake and turn, alternatively on right then left, and dropped back into the pupitres, with the angle gradually increased. The drop back into the rack causes a slight tap, pushing sediments toward the neck of the bottle. In 10 to 14 days (8 to 10 weeks for Champagne), the position of the bottle is straight down, with the lees settled in the neck. (This time can be shortened by moving the bottle more than once a day, and by using modern, less sticky strains of yeast.)
Manual riddling is still done for some ''Prestige Cuvées'' in Champagne, but has otherwise been largely abandoned because of the high labour costs. Mechanised riddling equipment (a
gyropalette) is used instead.
Many stores now sell riddling racks for decorative
storage of finished wine.
Disgorging
The lees removal process is called disgorging (''dégorgement'' in French), traditionally a skilled manual process where the crown cap and lees are removed without losing much of the liquid, and a varying amount of sugar added. Before the invention of this process by
Madame Clicquot in 1816, Champagne was cloudy. Modern automated disgorgement is done by freezing a small amount of the liquid in the neck and removing this plug of ice containing the lees.
Dosage
Immediately after disgorging but before final corking, the liquid level is topped up with ''liqueur d'expédition'', commonly a little sugar, a practice known as ''dosage.'' The ''liqueur d'expédition'' is a mixture of the base wine and
sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...
, plus 0.02 to 0.03 grams of
sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic a ...
as a preservative. Some ''maisons de Champagne'' (Champagne brands) claim to have secret recipes for this, adding ingredients such as old Champagne wine and
candi sugar
Candi sugar is a Belgian sugar product commonly used in brewing beer. It is particularly associated with stronger Belgian style ales such as dubbel and tripel. Chemically, it is an unrefined sugar beet derived sugar which has been subjected to Mai ...
. In the ''Traité théorique et pratique du travail des vins'' (1873), Maumené lists the additional ingredients "usually present in the ''liqueur d'expédition''":
port wine
Port wine (also known as vinho do Porto, , or simply port) is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often ...
,
cognac
Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Cognac production falls under French appella ...
,
elderberry wine,
kirsch
Kirschwasser (, ; , German for "cherry water") or kirsch is a clear, colorless brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-colored cultivar of the sour cherry. It is now also made from other kinds of cherri ...
,
framboise wine,
alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double sulfate salt of aluminium with the general formula , where is a monovalent cation such as potassium or ammonium. By itself, "alum" often refers to potassium alum, with the ...
solutions,
tartaric acid
Tartaric acid is a white, crystalline organic acid that occurs naturally in many fruits, most notably in grapes, but also in bananas, tamarinds, and citrus. Its salt, potassium bitartrate, commonly known as cream of tartar, develops naturally ...
, and
tannins.
The amount of sugar in the ''liqueur d'expédition'' determines the sweetness of the Champagne, the sugar previously in the wine having been consumed in the second fermentation. Generally, sugar is added to balance the high acidity of the Champagne, rather than to produce a sweet taste. Brut Champagne will only have a little sugar added, and Champagne called ''nature'' or ''zéro dosage'' will have no sugar added at all. A cork is then inserted, with a capsule and wire cage (
muselet) securing it in place.
Champagne's sugar content varies. The sweetest level is 'doux' (meaning sweet) and then, in increasing dryness, 'demi-sec' (half-dry), 'sec' (dry), 'extra sec' (extra dry), 'brut' (raw), 'extra brut' (very raw), 'brut nature/brut zero/ultra brut' (no additional sugar).
Vintage vs. non-vintage
The majority of the Champagne produced is non-vintage (also known as mixed vintage or multivintage), a blend of wines from several years. This means that no declared year will be displayed on the bottle
label
A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
. Typically, however, the majority of the wine is from the current year but a percentage is made of reserve wine from previous years. This serves to smooth out some of the vintage variations caused by the marginal growing climate of Champagne, which is the most northerly winegrowing region in France. Most Champagne houses strive for a consistent house style from year to year (largely for reasons related to price-setting and successful marketing), and this is arguably one of the hardest tasks of the house winemaker.
The grapes to produce vintage Champagne must be 100% from the year indicated (some other wines in the EU need only be 85% to be called vintage, depending on their type and appellation). To maintain the quality of non-vintage Champagne a maximum of half the grapes harvested in one year can be used in the production of vintage Champagne ensuring at least 50%, though usually more, is reserved for non-vintage wines. Vintage Champagnes are the product of a single high-quality year, and bottles from prestigious makers can be rare and expensive.
Bottle ageing
Even experts disagree about the effects of ageing on Champagne after disgorgement. Some prefer the freshness and vitality of young, recently disgorged Champagne, and others prefer the baked apple and caramel flavours that develop from a year or more of bottle ageing. In 2009, a 184-year-old bottle of
Perrier-Jouët was opened and tasted, still drinkable, with notes of "truffles and caramel", according to the experts.
See also
*
List of Champagne houses
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2016
Sparkling wines
Winemaking
pt:Champanhe (vinho)#Método champenoise, tradicional ou clássico