(the fourth lesson)
the classic method and the method of fermentation in the bottle by the yeast.
Here are all the stages of production:
- The preparation of wine-based
- The assembly of wines -The addition of the base
- liquer de tirage
- Bottling
- The foaming
- Aging on the lees
- The remuage
- disgorgement
- The dosage
- The final capping
- The packaging
The preparation of wine-based
It starts from early harvest healthy grapes and because the freshness of sparkling wines are characterized by precisely acids (responsible, inter alia, salivation). The clusters should not be crushed during harvest and transport in the cellar.
one soft pressing, carried out with the membrane presses, stripping and you get the juice that v err then placed in stainless steel tanks where the temperature of about 4 ° C , after the addition of pectolytic enzymes appropriate, decanters for a time that can vary from 16 to 24 hours.
At this point the juice is poured into a second vat, where it was prepared a base of yeast called pied de cuve , to trigger correctly the first fermentation that will transform it into wine- base.
This is a fermentation in white (with no skins), which is held for up to 25-30 days at a temperature of about 18 ° C in steel containers, after the addition of selected yeasts. Why such low temperatures? Because, as mentioned in the previous lesson, working at low temperatures can hold together the fragrance and flavor.
Assembly of wine-based
In the spring, Once the fermentation followed by the traditional practice of racking, clarification and stabilization, is arrive at the decisive moment of the cut, the so-called cuvée, expertly selected and assembled lots of vintage wine, and even from different grape varieties.
If the blend is composed of wines made from grapes of the same vintage (or at least 85%) gives a sparkling vintage el 'vintage can be printed on the label. Very often it is a sparkling top that rests in the cellar for 4-5 years and before disgorging.
If you are also used previous vintages (up to a maximum of 30%) there is a sans année, a sparkling wine that is no indication for a vintage or vintage aging on yeast shorter, usually 2-3 years.
may happen that the blend is prepared with wine is obtained from white grapes or black. In the first case (where you use mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc), sparkling wine called blanc de blancs , ie white wine from white grapes, while the second If we are faced with a blanc de noirs wine, white wine that is produced from black grapes.
Adding liquer de tirage
As mentioned the production of sparkling wines is due to-base, ie dry wines which have already completed their process and in which yeasts have already "eaten" all the sugars present. Now then to trigger the fermentation process again adding the liquer de tirage or a mixture of a bit 'of wine with a precise amount of cane sugar, yeast and mineral :
- sugar cane is the most commonly used; 4 g / l sugar generate an atmosphere of pressure. To obtain at least 3 atmospheres should provide 12g / l sugar. In fact, if they add more because the excess is lost during the disgorging. Hence the amount of sugar that is sum of 24g / l, to reach the 6 atm ;
- family of Saccharomyces, strains of yeast most commonly used are the 'ellipsoideus el'oviformis. This is good yeast that are resistant to low temperatures (11 ° - 13 ° C
- also added a nitrogen source and ammonium salt in a particular way just because the yeast to grow and riprodursihanno need a constituent of proteins. Sometimes even then they are elle inert substances added to facilitate compaction of lees and facilitate the riddling and disgorgement.
In the case of Satén in Franciacorta 6 atmospheres is reached, but the addition of sugar is about 18g / l that lead to the achievement of a pressure of about 4.5 atmospheres. The result is indeed a sparkling silky, not too aggressive.
Bottling
After checking that the liquer de tirage it is completely dissolved and blended in the blend, the wine is bottled in the traditional champagne bottles which have specific characteristics:
- the glass color ranges from dark green to brown to almost black to protect the wine from light;
- the glass is very thick to withstand the pressure domestic and various processes;
- the fund is returned to your dome in order to be able to download the high internal pressure.
The bottles are then capped with a crown cap of stainless steel. Under the cap is inserted a cylinder of plastic that bidule used to facilitate the conveyance of the dregs at the end of riddling.
The foaming
Once the bottles are corked part of the foam. The bottles are stacked horizontally in cellars or in temperature-controlled rooms at low and constant temperature of 10 - 12 ° C in the absence of vibration, noise, light and heat and adequate moisture level. He start the fermentation process so after about 6 months.
Question: why the fermentation process takes so much as the amount of sugar to be fermented is little? Because they operate at low temperatures, the fermentation ... very slowly.
The yeasts convert the sugar into carbon dioxide, ethyl alcohol, and many secondary substances that enhance the sparkling flavors.
Aging on the lees
After about six months during fermentation ceases : or the sugar is exhausted, the yeast cells are in an environment unfavorable. The internal pressure is very high and there is a good concentration of ethyl alcohol. Begins at this point the phase of autolysis that is where the sensitive stage of decomposition cell membrane of yeast can no longer resist and breaks.
During this phase, the yeast in sparkling wine return everything they had stolen. The champagne will be enriched with substances with characteristic aromas and tertiary aromas (such as hints of bread crust), which will make it easily recognizable.
This phase of aging (ie maturity) should be long and slow in the darkness and cool of the cellar, because only then you will get fine and persistent bubbles. I n fact, many production rules provide for periods of refinement by 18 months for non-vintage and up to 33 for millesimai , and many manufacturers extend these times of aging in order to create a better quality product, also coming in 7-8 years !!!!!!
course are made for long aging wines: if we can not expect long aging wines used for the assembly have little to give!
During aging the bottles subject to one or two times the "coupe de poignée ( or excavation), which is in giving a kick to the bottle to avoid the dregs from sticking to the wall of the bottle, which makes it difficult to detach and adjust during the downhill remuage.
The remuage
After the phase of aging on the lees the bottles are placed on pupitre , special wooden stands with shaped holes. Lees people need to be "shock" and then you make the remuage Every day the bottles are rotated 1 / 8 of a turn so as to cause separation of the residues yeasts from the walls and their accumulation near the cap, in bidule.
The remuage takes about 1-2 months and eventually the bottles are almost vertical.
This can only be done by hand by the operator, but today they are increasingly used for rotating bins that mimic the manual movement ( giropalette ).
The remuage provides greater mechanical reliability, rationalization of work time and reduce costs.
Once the riddling, the bottles pass the disgorgement, even though they may be stored in the tip, upright and inverted to enhance the development of the wine in contact with the yeast, preventing them from sticking to the walls, how could happen if they were stored horizontally. This stop in hard-edged usually a few months but could take years. 
disgorgement
And here comes the time of disgorgement (French dégorgement ), namely to remove the lees. In the past this was done à la volleys namely the skillful winemaker, straightened up the bottle so as to coincide the release of the stopper in the neck with the arrival of the air bubble contained within, the lees were so expelled outside the bubble.
Today there is a method à la glace much more rational. Each bottle is placed on a conveyor belt and placed in special machines which comes from a saturated solution of salts at very low temperatures (-28 / - 30 ° C ) going to affect only the outer part of the neck where there is the dregs. The travel speed of the tape is calculated so that at the end of the course, which lasts just over a minute, has formed a cylinder of ice of an inch, which includes the wine and the lees in compacted bidule .
At this point, the crown cap is removed , the internal pressure is very high as to eject the ice, leaving the wine clear !!!!!!!
The dosage
During disgorgement, because of the pressure will be lost approximately 5 - 10 mm liquid and for this reason during the next phase, adding the liqueur d'expédition whose recipe is kept secret from any manufacturer. A little 'wine aged a bit' of sugar cane, sometimes a few drops of distilled spirits, mixed according to the type of product you want.
With this step the company that gives a characteristic "footprint" to its own sparkling wine.
NB: the initial sugar was all eaten by the yeast during fermentation. Then, the residual sugar that comes in your mouth when sipping our champagne, this is of liquer espedition added in the final phase prior to capping.
According to the sugar content then you are going to decide the term of the sparkling wine:
| | Residual sugar (g / l) |
| Pas dosé | \u0026lt;1 |
| brut | \u0026lt;3 |
| Extra gross | \u0026lt;6 |
| Brut | \u0026lt;15 |
| Extra Gross | 12-20 |
| Sec Secco o Dry | 18-35 |
| Demi-sec o Abboccato | 33-50 |
| Dolce Sweet | o > 50 |
If you do not make any dosage, the product is called pas dose.
Once you add the liqueur d'expédition, the bottles are refilled with a small addition of the same wine, so the level is equal in every bottle is identical and also the amount of air trapped under the cap.
Curiosity : if we look at the table we see that in some places there is an overlap, ie if our sparkling wine has a residual sugar of 13g / s we face is that at a Brut Extra Dry and then? How do you solve this? The answer is now on .... In fact, if the sugar content of the product justifies the use of two of the terms listed, the manufacturer may choose between them.
The final capping
After the operation of the dosage bottle is capped with the cap mushroom cork. Originally cylindrical, these plugs take the characteristic mushroom shape after compression suffered in the neck of the bottle, as well as the restraining effect of the cage of wire that holds the cap tightly, and the overlying metal cap.
Want to know how accurately you open a bottle of champagne? Then watch this video where our friendly AIS director, Thomas Luongo explains all the steps.
Packaging
The bottles are washed, dried and made to turn upon themselves in order to perfectly mix the syrup dosing. Before being sent to the shipment, the bottles stay longer at rest in a temperature-controlled cellar.
companies reported more serious in the back label the date of disgorgement that buyers can be a guarantee of freshness. The shelf life of a sparkling wine, in fact, should be up to 2 years from the date of disgorgement. ... and now there's an example: we have a vintage 1994 vintage with 2004 years of disgorgement, which means that the aging on the lees lasted 10 years, but if the year of disgorgement was 1997 will mean that this sparkling wine has been around a lot longer on the market. What does this mean? There is a risk that you spend a lot of money and then realize at the time of tasting, the bottle is not cha been preserved well !!!!!!
I leave you with a nice video summary of the traditional method
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