Sparkling Wine Production Flashcards
Second fermentation also increases what?
Alcohol levels by 1.2% - 1.3%
Grapes should be relatively low in what?
Sugar
What is the best climate for sparkling wine?
Cool
When should grapes be pressed?
On arrival at the winery it should be done as soon as possible
In most EU regions, legislation determines what?
-Maximum pressure that can be used during pressing
-Amount of juice that can be extracted from the grapes
How many methods to produce a sparkling wine?
6
What is Traditional method?
-A wine that has undergone 2nd fermentation in the bottle in which it is later sold
For TM sparkling, where does the 1st fermentation take place?
Large temp controlled stainless steel vats
Some still use oak vats or barrels
For TMS, based on the style of wine to be made, what does the winemaker decide before the 2nd alcoholic fermentation?
Whether the wine will undergo Malolactic conversion and/or a period of maturation in oak
What is the purpose of blending in TMS?
House style-Blending wines from different vineyards, grape varieties, and/or vintages can help to create this house style year after year
Can Be used to improve the balance of the wine
Can enhance the complexity of the wine
Once the blend is made up in TMS what is added?
Small amount of Liqueur de triage (Mixture of wine, sugar, yeast, yeast nutrients, clarifying agent)
Once 2nd alcoholic fermentation is complete in TMS, what dies?
Dead yeast cells start to break down releasing chemical compounds is known as what?
Yeast, they form a sediment of lees in the bottle
Autolysis-Contribute to flavour of wine, giving bread, biscuit, toasty notes
It is most active over the first 4-5 years
How is yeast sediment removed in TMS?
Riddling and disgorgement
What is riddling in TMS?
-Moving the bottle very slowly from a horizontal to an inverted vertical position
-Yeast settlement is dislodged, sliding down the side of the bottle, collecting in the plastic cup insert in the crown cap
Riddling machine?
Gyropalette, a cage holding 500 bottles on a hydraulic arm which is regularly rotated and inclined
Only takes days
What happens after riddling is complete in TMS?
-Neck of bottle is submerged in very cold solution, which freezes the wine in the neck
-Bottles are placed in upright position
-Crown cap is removed
-Pressure created by dissolved CO2 ejects the frozen wine, taking sediment and plastic insert with it
-Wine topped up with liqueur d’expedition and sealed with a cork secured by a wire cage
What is liqueur d’expedition?
Mixture of wine and sugar
The amount of sugar used will determine the final level of sweetness in the wine and is known as the dosage (Used to balance acidity and help with flavour development)
What is Brut Nature or Zero Dosage?
Without the addition of sugar
In its original shape what does a cork look like?
A cylinder
Mushroom shapes comes after removing the cork
After a wine has been corked what can happen next in TMS?
May be aged for a further few months to allow liqueur d’expedition to integrate with the wine
What is the Transfer Method?
-Adaptation of TMS
-No Riddling/disgorgement
-Same process as TMS up until the point of riddling, at this point the entire contents of the bottles is disgorged into a sealed tank under pressure
-Wine in tank is filtered to remove the yeast lees, liqueur d’expedition is added and wine is rebottled into a fresh bottle
What will Transfer method wines often state on labels?
Bottle fermented
Winemakers using TMS will sometimes put what on their labels?
Traditional method or methode traditionnelle
What is the Ancestral Method?
-Only 1 fermentation
-The fermenting juice is bottled part way through the single fermentation capturing CO2 in the bottle
-Wines may or may not be disgorged (Latter can cause them to be cloudy/have sediment)
-Released for sale while young
