Sparkling Wine Flashcards
Mention the different methods of making sparkling wine
- Traditional Method
- Transfer Method
- Tank Method
- Asti Method
- Carbonation
This method of making sparkling wine requires one fermentation
Asti Method
What’s liqueur de tirage?
A mixture of wine, sugar, yeast, yeast nutrients and clarifying agent added to the blended base wine when making sparkling wines. This triggers a second fermentation in the bottle
What are the steps of making sparkling wine by the traditional method?
- Pressing
- Base wine produced by the first fermentation
- Blending
- Second alcoholic fermentation (adding liqueur de tirage)
- Store wine on the lees (produces yeast autolysis)
- Riddling
- Disgorgement
- Add liqueur d’expedition (to manage the final sweetness of the wine)
- Cork
- Bottle Ageing
What’s disgorgement?
Process to freeze the neck of a upturned bottle of sparkling wine and remove the sediment
What’s riddling?
Moving bottles of sparkling wine slowly from a horizontal to a vertical position to capture the yeast sediment. Traditionally done manually via a pupitre, nowadays it is done mechanically through gyropalettes.
What is added to Champagne to control the sweetness (the dosage)?
Liqueur d’expedition (wine and sugar)
Why blending is used?
- consistency (different vintages)
- improve balance (different grapes)
- improve complexity (old/young).
This helps achieve a “house style”
This process adds bread, biscuit and toasty notes to sparkling wines
Yeast Autolysis
Describe the transfer method to make sparkling wine
Same as traditional method, but avoids riddling and disgorgement. After second fermentation you TRANSFER the contents into tanks, where the wine is filtered and then bottled again.
What method is used to make Prosecco?
Tank Method
What method is used to make Cava?
Traditional Method
Level of alcohol in Asti
7% ABV
What’s the Asti method?
Method to make sparkling wine. Mainly used for Asti, the Italian sparkling wine. Process requires only one fermentation (in contrast with the other methods) and creates fruity, low alcohol wine.
What are the steps of the Asti method?
- Pressing
- Juice chilled and stored
- When required juice is warmed
- Fermentation in pressurised tanks
- Co2 initially allowed to escape
- Tank is then sealed
- Fermentation continues until you reach 7% ABV
- Fermentation stopped by chilling the wine
- Filter
- Bottled
Method to make sparkling wine that requires injecting Co2 in the wine?
Carbonation
Describe the tank method of making sparkling wine
In contrast with the transfer and traditional methods, in the tank method the second fermentation happens in tanks. Minimal lees contact is allowed, therefore the wine flavour mainly comes from the fruit.
Sparkling wine made through the tank method
Prosecco
Best method(s) to make sparkling wine for strong flavoured grapes
Tank method and carbonation
Styles of sparkling wine by their level of sweetness
- Brut Nature/Zero dosage–> 0-3 g/L of residual sugar
- Extra Brut/Bruto/Herb –> 0-6
- Brut/Bruto/Herb –> 0-12
- Extra-sec/dry/trocken –> 12-17
- Sec/dry/trocken –> 17-32
- Demi-sec/medium dry/Abbocato/halbtrocken–> 32-50
- Doux/Dulce/Sweet/Mild–> 50+
Style of sparkling wine with 12-17 g/L of residual sugar
Extra-sec
Style of sparkling wine with 0-3 g/L of residual sugar
Brut Nature/Zero dosage
Brut
Most popular style of champagne.
0-12 g/L of residual sugar
What’s non-vintage Champagne?
Champagne made of grapes from different vintages
What’s Prestige Cuvée?
Best Champagne of one producer
Sparkling wine made with only white varietals
Blanc de Blancs
Blanc de Noirs
Sparkling wine made of only red grapes
Number of premier crus in Champagne
44 premier cru / 17 grand cru
Can Champagne be made by the tank method?
No. Only method traditionnelle is allowed
Climate of Champagne
cool continental climate
Type of soil in Champagne
Chalk (good for drainage)
Grape varieties used to make Champagne
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier
What’s cuvée?
The first liquid after pressing when making Champagne. Highest quality Champagne is made only with cuvée
What’s Taille?
What’s left after pressing and separating cuvée when making Champagne
List the key regions in Champagne
- Montagne de Reims (main Pinot)
- Vallée de la Marne (Meunier)
- Cotes de Blanc (main Chardo)
- Cotes de Sezanne (main Chardo)
- Cotes de Bar (main Pinot)
Where’s Vallée de la Marne and what produces?
Champagne
Where’s Cotes de Sezanne and what produces?
Champagne
Where’s Montagne de Reims and what produces?
Champagne
Where’s Cotes de Blanc and what produces?
Champagne
Where’s Cotes de Bar and what produces?
Champagne
Min levels of ageing for non-vintage Champagne?
15 months of which 12 on lees
Min levels of ageing for vintage Champagne?
36 months (no specification on lees)
Term applicable to a number of French sparkling wine ACs which are not Champagne?
Crémant