Sparkling Wine Production Flashcards
What should grapes used for sparkling production be high in and low in, while not being under-ripe? What flavours are avoided with ripe grapes?
High in acid
Low in sugar
Herbaceous, green flavours
By how many percent might secondary ferment increase the ABV of a sparkling wine?
1.2-1.3%
A still dry base wine will generally have an ABV of?
10-11%
Why is the retention of acid in grapes necessary for sparkling wines in general? And specifically for Champagne and some other Traditional Method wines?
Generally made in a refreshing style
You need acid to stand up to autolytic flavours
How can you make sparkling wine in warmer climates? Why shouldn’t you?
Picking early
Herbaceous, green flavours
The best sparkling wines are generally hand-picked, why?
To retain whole bunches and avoid splitting of grapes which allows for pressing without crushing, avoiding any extraction of colour or tannin
Why might you use machine harvest for inexpensive sparkling wines, aside from cost?
Efficient way to pick all the grapes before they accumulate too much sugar and lose acidity
When will grapes be pressed after harvest?
ASAP
Pressings are gentle as to? When is gentle pressing particularly important with sparkling wines?
Minimise the extraction of any tannins and colour
When pressing black grapes
In most EU regions there is legislation that determines the maximum amount of pressure that can be used during pressing and what else?
How much juice can be extracted from the grapes
What are the five main methods of producing sparkling wine?
Traditional Transfer Tank Asti Carbonation
What are the seven steps in the traditional method?
Making the base wine Blending Second alcoholic fermentation Yeast autolysis Riddling Disgorgment and corking Bottle ageing
What briefly defines the traditional method?
Wine that has undergone secondary fermentation in the bottle in which it is later sold
What vessel is typical for making base wine for sparkling?
Temperature controlled stainless
Describe typical base wine (sweetness, flavours, acidity)
Completely dry
Neutral flavours
High acidity
What will most likely be done with some of a vintages base wine?
Stored as ‘Reserve’ for later years
At what stage might a sparkling wine undergo MLF or oak ageing?
Base still wine phase
After a base wine is created, what happens in the traditional method?
Blending
What are the three main functions of blending before secondary? What might be blended? What is blended later in the traditional method?
- Consistent house style
- Balance the wine
- Complexity
Varieties, vintages, wines from different vineyards/parcels/pressings
Liqueur d’expedition (wine and sugar or dosage)
What might Chardonnay bring to a sparkling blend?
What might Pinot Noir bring?
Chardonnay brings citrus, finesse and age-worthiness where Pinot brings red fruit and body
How is complexity enhanced by blending in NV wines?
Reserve wine bringing aged characters such as dried fruit aromas to fresh young wine
Why might wines intended for sparkling production be fermented in many smaller parcels?
To give the winemaker more to work with when blending
What is added to bottled still wine to start secondary fermentation? What are it’s 5 ingredients?
Liqueur de tirage
Wine, sugar, yeast, yeast nutrients and a clarifying agent
During secondary, how is the bottle sealed?
Crown seal (with a plastic cup insert)
In what position are bottles stacked in a cool, constant cellar during secondary fermentation?
Horizontally
By how much is the ABV increased during secondary fermentation?
1.2-1.3%
What happens to the CO2 during secondary?
It dissolves into the wine
How many atmospheres of pressure are typical of a sparkling wine?
5 to 6
In the traditional method and after the second alcoholic fermentation, what happens to yeast?
They die and for a sediment of lees in the bottle
Sediment of lees in the bottle will begin to do what over a period of months? What is this process called?
Break down and release chemical compounds into the wine
Yeast autolysis
How long does yeast autolysis typically last? How long has it been known to continue for?
4 to 5 years
as long as 10 years
What is the benefit of keeping lees in contact with wine after autolysis?
Can help maintain a wine’s freshness for years
What is the first step when preparing a wine for disgorgement?
Riddling
In basic terms, what does riddling involve?
Moving the bottle very slowly from horizontal to an inverted vertical position
When riddling was/is done by hand, what is the name of the A-frame used? How long does the process take? What does the riddler do to the bottle?
Pupitre
Up to 8 weeks
Once a day, gently shakes the bottle and gives it a twist before setting it a little closer to vertical
What is the hydraulic machine used in mechanical riddling?
How many bottles can it hold?
How long does it take to riddle the wine?
Gyropalette
500
days
What are the steps of disgorgement?
Bottle is submerged in a very cold brine solution which freezes the wine in the neck
Bottle is inverted to upright with the frozen wine and sediment held in place at the top
The crown seal is removed and the pressure (5-6 atm from dissolved CO2) pushes the sediment and plastic cup insert out
Liqueur d’expedition (wine and sugar) is added
Bottle is sealed with a cork and wire cage
What is Liqueur d’expedition?
What is the level of sugar sometimes known as?
Mixture of wine and sugar
Dosage
What does the addition of sugar in the liqueur d’expedition help with? (2)
Balancing high acidity
Flavour development
What are sparkling wines made via the traditional method called when no sugar is included in the Liqueur d’expedition? (2)
Brut Nature or Zero Dosage
wine will still be added to fill the bottle
What is the final blending process in the traditional method? Is it important what wine is used? Why?
Liqueur d’expedition
Yes
It contributes to making the house style
What shape is a sparkling wine cork when it goes in?
Cylindrical
Why might a freshly cork-sealed bottle of sparkling wine made via the traditional method be further aged?
To allow the liqueur d’expedition to integrate with the wine
To combat the difficulty of determining the age of a NV sparkling wine, what have some wine makers (particularly in Champagne) been putting on their labels?
Disgorgement dates
What two steps of the Traditional method was the Transfer method developed to bipass? Why?
Riddling and disgorgement
Costly and complex steps
When does the transfer method differ from the traditional method? What happens instead?
After autolysis
Before riddling
Wines are disgorged into a pressurised, sealed tank where they are filtered to remove lees
Is liqueur d’expedition still added in the transfer method?
Is the wine returned to the same bottle it aged on lees in?
Yes
No
Where a wine might be labelled ‘traditional method’ or ‘methode traditionnelle’ what might a transfer method wine be labelled?
‘Bottle-fermented’
Why might a winemaker decide to use the Tank method, rather than traditional or transfer methods?
Retain the flavours of the base wine (no lees)
What types of wine are suited to tank method? (2)
Strong flavoured (Riesling, Muscat) Fresh and fruity (Prosecco)
Why is the tank method a popular method for producing sparkling wines?
Cheap, fast and less laborious
Where would first fermentation take place during the tank method?
Temperature controlled, stainless steel
What is added to still wine to initiate secondary fermentation?
Yeast, yeast nutrients, sugar and clarifying agents
‘liqueur de tirage’ without the wine
What kind of tank must be used for secondary during the tank method?
Sealed tank able to withstand the pressure of CO2 dissolving into the wine
When using the tank method, what are the next 2 steps after secondary ferment takes place?
Filtering and bottling under pressure
Though rarely done, how might a winemaker impart autolytic flavours into a wine when using the tank method?
They could use paddles to stir up lees during the secondary ferment
What is unusual about the Asti method?
Only one fermentation is used
When using the Asti method, wine is chilled then warmed when needed, what happens during fermentation in pressurised tanks?
CO2 is allowed to escape at first
Partway through the tank is sealed to retain CO2
When will the fermentation be stopped when using the Asti method? How is this done?
When the wine reaches approx. 7% ABV and has the pressure of 5-6 atmospheres
Fermentation stops via cooling and filtering out the yeast
When is Asti typically sold after bottling?
Immediately
What is the cheapest method of sparkling wine production? What sort of wines does it suit? e.g.?
Carbonation
Wines with strong varietal flavours
Sauvignon Blanc
Must ALL the wine used in a vintage Champagne be from that single year?
Yes
What might be allowed into vintage blends by some appellations and regions?
A small percentage of grapes from another year
What are 3 ways in which colour might be altered to make a rose sparkling wine?
Blending red and white base wines
Short maceration
By using a certain colour Liqueur d’expedition
Some sparkling wine appellations only allow the use of which process to colour their roses?
Short maceration
What is a Prestige Cuvee?
Best wine(s) in a producer’s range
