Sparkling wine production

Question 1

The requiremensts for growing grapes for sparkling wines are quit different than those for still wines. tell me.

Answer 1

1) low in sugar
2) the sec ferm gives the bubbels and extra alc by a further 1.2-1.3% abv
- – therefore producers aim for a still base wine of 10-11%abv
3) high aci is necesary refreshing style
4) despite the high acidity, low alc and sugar the flavours of the grape need to be sufficient ripe, without green herbaceous character
5) cooler regions: the sugar and acid levels form slowly
- - warmer region sugar levels can rise and acid level can fall fast
- — early picking, but can lead to herbaceous green grapes
- —- area with sufficient cool climate is the thing

Question 2

How will you handle the grapes and juice ?

Answer 2

1) harvest:
a) for the best quality: handpicking to retain bunches without splitted grapes
b) in warm regions for inexpensive sparkling wines: machine harvesting will be the most suffiecient before they accumulate to much sugar

2) pressing:
a) at arrival direct pressing, gentle pressing, to minimise the extraction of any colour and tannins
- - using whole bunches too press, contact is minimised
- - eu regions legislation(wettelijk toegelaten) determines the max pressing

Question 3

on which steps will we focus to make sparkling wines on traditioal methode ?

Answer 3

1) making the base wine
- alc ferm in stainless steel, or oak vats
- basewine: dry, floral neutral notes with high aci
- depends on style: mlf, period on oak before the sec alc fermentation
- some basewines are used a year after harvest, some mature long time in oak (reservewine)

2) blending for making a housestyle (dif parcels, … vintages, …)
- grape varietys and flavours:
- - chardonnay: citrus, finesse longivety
- -pin noir red fruit, body
- — enhancing the complexity
- —— continuity

3) sec alc ferm:
- small perc of liqueur de tirage: wine, sugar, yeast nutrients and clarify agent
- - bottle is closed with a crown cap
- – bottles horizontally in cool constant temp
- —-slow ferm and alc raises by 1.2-1.3 abv
- —— co2 generated by the yeast dissolves in the wine creating sparkle
- ——– creating pressure in the bottle 5-6 atmospheres (bar)

4) yeast autolyses:
- alc is complete: yeast dies and forms a sediment of lees in the bottle
- -these dead yeastcells start to break down releasing chem compounds into the wine (yeastautolyses)
- — these compounds contribute flavours to the wine like bread biscuit and toasty notes
- —– autolyses can last 4-5 years but can also go to 10 y
- ——–more time on lees, more yeast character
- ———–when autolyses finished, but you keep the wine in contact with the lees it can hold its freshness for long

5) riddling;
- bottle horizontal to an inverted vertical position
– the yeast sediment is dislodged(losgeraakt) and goes slowly in the plastic cup of the crown
(traditionally this was done by hand (rack called pupitre), now gyropalettes can complete riddling in a few days)

6) disgorgement and corking:
- neck in submerged cold brine solution (ice and salt)
- - bottle upright and the frozen wine keeps the yeast up
- – crown seal is removed and the pressure that is solved by co2 will eject the frozen wine
- —- liqueur d’expedition and sealed with a cork wiren cage held secure
- —– liquer will deside the sweetness (mixture of wine and sugar) used for balance acidity and helps development of flavour
- —– brut nature and zero dosage: they will just use a little wine to refill the lost wine

7) bottle ageing: some will age a few months just to let the liquer d’expedition interact with the wine
- – premium wines will go longer
- —- to enhance clarity of the product infortmation some producers put a date of disgorgement on their label, so the retailers and consumers have an idee of how the style will be, fresh, old (its still different to know)
- —- because the most sparkling wines dont have a vintage marked on their bottle

Question 4

how goes the transfer method ?

Answer 4

1) almost the same as traditional method
2) in place of remuage and disgorgement seperatly
- - the whole content of bottles get sigorged in a seal tank under pressure
3) filter the tank
4) add liqueur dexpedition
5) bottle

cheaper price than traditional mode
with larges batches (hoeveelheid van een product die in 1 keer geproduceert wordt)
you can see bottle fermented its to have the same prestigious label as method traditionelle

Question 5

why tank method ?

Answer 5

1) to retain the flavours of the basewine
2) faster cheaper
3) less labourintensive
4) some great sparkling wines can be made

Question 6

for what grapes tank method ?

Answer 6

aromatic species like riesling, muscat

— prosecco fruity and sparkling

Question 7

how tank methode ?

Answer 7

1) grapes press and clarify the juice
2) juice gets first ferm stainless steel retain fresh fruity and floral notes
- – no ageing or mlf
3) blend
4) liqueur de tirage is added
5) filter the yeast
- – no yeast character, because no time at yeast
- — autolytic character can be created using paddles and stir up the lees

Question 8

asti method:

Answer 8

its for sweet sparkling wines:

1) the juice is chilled and stored untill needed
2) juice is warmed up and ferm takes place in pressured tanks
- — initially the co2 is allowed to escape
- ——partway the ferm the tank is closed to retain co2
- ——–ferm continues until alc is 7%abv and pressure 5-6 bar or atmosphere
3) ferm stopped early by chilling the wine
4) filtered by pressure to remove yeast
5) bottled and immediatly released

Question 9

Carbonisation:

Answer 9

• co2 injected in the wine
• usefull to produce fruity sparkling wine and retain the flavours of the base wine
• – for strong varietal grapes
• —– cheapest of all

Question 10

in europ the sparkling wine needs an indication on the label for the level of sweetness. this tabel gets kopied over the world but can vary a little. this are the EU terms:

Answer 10

1) brut nature, zero dosage: naturherb, bruto natural:
0-3g/ l
2) extra brut/ extra bruto/ Extra herb 0-6g/l
3) brut, bruto herb: 0-12g/l
4) extra sec, extra dry, extra trocken 12-17gl
5) sec seco trocken 17-32
6) demi sec, semi seco abboccato halbtrocken: 32-50gl
7) doux/ dulce/ sweet 50+ g/l

Question 11

which other terms can describe styles of sparkling wines:

Answer 11

1) non vintage: not a labelling term, but describe wines made from grapes harvested in more vintages
2) vintage: in champagne this means the wine must come from asingle year (however, some app lets a small perc of grapes in another years
- - champagne vintages only in the best years
3) rose: blend red and white
- - or short maceration
- — colour can be adjusted with the liqueur dexpedition
4) blanc de blanc: only white varieties
5) blanc de noir: white sp wine from black varieties
6) prestuge cuvée: no label term, generally describes the best wines in a producers range
- - for a small part these wines are important part of the sparkling wine market