Chapter Six - Sparkling Wine Production Flashcards
Define “debourbage”
Juice settling
Define “degorgement”
Disgorging, or disgorgement
Define “prise de mousse”
siezing the foam, aka the second alcoholic fermentation
What is a pupitre
A riddling Rack
Define “remuage”
Riddling
Define Reserve
Still wine from earlier vintages, used in blending
Define “transversage”
Transfer between bottles
What is prestige, in terms of sparking wine?
Also known as tete de cuvee. In theory the winery’s very best wine.
Usually from the early part of the first pressing. the most exceptional fruit.
What is vintage wine?
the wines produced from a cuvee of base wine made from grapes all harvested in the same year.
The idea is to highlight or show the snapshot of the place and time.
Every vintage is not always produced. Only in the better years.
Nonvintage?
Base wine can be made from wines from multiple vintages. Usually the blend is utilized to create a specific style or consistent flavor from year to year.
What is blanc de blanc?
White wine from white grapes. in terms of Champagne, usually 100% Chardonnay.
Other white grapes are permitted in Champagne.
What is Blanc de Noir?
White wine made from Black grapes.
To produce this style of wine, red grapes are crushed and the juice is pressed off the skins very quickly so little to no color is extracted from the skins.
can be vintage or non vintage.
some have a slight salmon hue.
Discuss rose’ in terms of sparkling wine production.
sparkling wines made with a pink or salmon hue in varying pigments. Usually made with both red and white grapes. The color it self will come from the skins of the red grapes.
Using a short carbonic maceration to extract the flavor and slight color.
Pinot Noir is the most common varietal.
What is liqueur de Tirage?
a mixture of sugar and yeast that is added to the base wine in heavy glass bottles. This is when secondary fermentation begins.
The yeast and sugar will jumpstart fermentation.
alcohol percentage will slightly increase (1-1.5%)
How long does the secondary fermentation take to complete in sparkling wine?
It can take up to a month or even longer.
what is autolysis? What flavor does it lend to the wine?
Toasty and nutty flavors are produced.
Autolysis is when the yeast cells die and the compounds that are released resemble toasty and nutty flavors.
With 6-7 atmospheres of pressure the the yeast cells are suspended and not able to be seen.
What is Sur Lie, and why is it done?
Sur Lie, is the the extended aging of wine with the lees. With more contact time the flavors are intensified.
The high end cuvees usually spend more time on the lees creating more complex flavors.
Discuss the effect of carbon Dioxide from extended lees aging?
the longer aging time allows the carbon dioxide to dissolve more thoroughly resulting in a smaller bubble.
Riddling is known in French as what?
Remuage
What is a pupitre? What is it used for?
An A-frame used to riddle wines over many weeks to get all of the yeast to sink to the neck right before disgorgement.
Describe the entire process of Disgorgement?
With Champagne or sparkling wine production, fermentation happens in the bottle so the yeast cells eventually die off due to the lack of sugar or when alcohol gets to high. The wine bottles are put upside down in the pupitre. Here the bottles are slowly turned and slowly turned upside down in order to get all of the yeast to sink to the neck of the bottle. Once it is complete, the neck of the bottle. Then the crown cap is popped off, and the pressure pushing all of the yeast out of the bottle.
The bottle is then refilled with the liqueur d’expedition or dosage. This liquid is more wine to fill the bottle to the top along with some sugar to create the desired sweetness level.
What is a gyropallete? Who developed/created it? What is it used for?
A gyropallete is a machine designed to automate the process of riddling. It speeds up the process from months/weeks to days. it vibrates and turns the bottles in a fashion that gets the spent yeast cells to the neck of a bottle quickly.
they can hold 500 bottles at a time. This speeds the entire process up by a lot.
What is “Sur Pointe”?
This is when all of the yeast cells have made their way back to the neck of the bottle. In French it is sur point.
What is a muselet?
The wire cage (and cap) that go on top of the cork on sparkling wine.
