World Sparkling Wines

Question 1

What are 3 other names used for Classic / Traditional Method?

Answer 1

1. Champagne Method
2. Méthode Traditionnelle
3. Metodo Classico

Question 2

Give 5 examples of wines made using Traditional Method.

Answer 2

1. Champagne
2. Crémant
3. Cava
4. Franciacorta
5. Cap Classique

Question 3

In order, list the 7 basic steps to making sparkling wine using the Traditional Method.

Answer 3

1. Making still wine.
2. Assemblage of cuvée.
3. Creating bubbles using liqueur de tirage.
4. Sur Lie aging.
5. Riddling (Remuage) using pupitre or gyropalette.
6. Disgorging (Dégorgement).
7. Dosage using liqueur d’expédition.

Question 4

• What are the components of liqueur de tirage?
• What does the tirage do?

Answer 4

• Mixture of still wine, yeasts, sugar, and fining agents.
• Serves to ignite the second fermentation.

Question 5

What is the composition of the liqueur d’expédition?

Answer 5

It’s a liquid mixture of sugar syrup and wine.

Commonly used sugars include beet sugar and RCGM.

Question 6

Describe the Transfer Method.

Answer 6

• Identical to the Classic Method up to completion of second fermentation.
• Secondary fermentation occurs.
• in bottle.
• The bottles are disgorged under pressure into large tanks.
• The wine is then filtered and then rebottled.

Question 7

What are 2 advantages of Transfer Method?

Answer 7

• Lees contact for flavor is obtained.
• Riddling is eliminated.

Question 8

The Transfer Method is used for what sized bottles?

Answer 8

• Extra large format bottles.
• Extra small format bottles.

Question 9

What are 2 other names used for Charmat Method?

Answer 9

1. Tank Method.
2. Cuve Close.

Question 10

Describe Charmat Method.

Answer 10

1. Secondary fermentation occurs in pressurized tanks.
2. Fermentation is complete in 4-5 days.
3. The wine is filtered and then bottled.

Question 11

Give 3 examples of wines that use Charmat Method.

Answer 11

1. Prosecco
2. Moscato d’Asti
3. Lambrusco

Question 12

What are 3 advantages of using Charmat Method?

Answer 12

1. Saves an immense amount of time and cost with no riddling or disgorging.
2. Can be as little as 90 days from harvest to final bottling (it’s fast!).
3. This is the best process for making sparkling wine from aromatic grape varieties.

Question 13

Describe Méthod Ancestrale.

Answer 13

• Primary fermentation is paused mid-way.
• The wines are bottled and the fermentation finishes inside the bottle.
• The CO2 produced is trapped in the bottle.
• There is no requirement to remove the sediment by disgorging.

Question 14

What are 3 other names used for Méthod Ancestrale?

Answer 14

1. Ancestral Method
2. Méthode Rurale
3. Pétillant Naturel (a.k.a. “Pet-nat”)

Question 15

Pét-Nats are bottled at a higher or lower pressure than Traditional Method sparkling wines?

Answer 15

Bottled at much lower pressure.

Question 16

Why are grapes like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc most suitable to make sparkling wines using the Traditional Method?

Answer 16

• Traditional Method highlights the autolytic aromas (bread, pastry dough, biscuit) from sur lie aging, and the neutral aromatics from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc make them suited for this method of winemaking.
• The autolytic aromas aren’t well suited for aromatic varieties such as Muscat or Glera.

Question 17

How does the method used to make sparkling wine impact the final style?

Answer 17

• Traditional Method sparkling wines will have a longer, more consistent perlage lending elegance and a more creamy mousse.
• Charmat Method sparkling wines will have a frothier mousse that dies faster than Traditional Method wines.
• The base wine of any Charmat or Traditional Method wine ideally needs to be of good quality as any faults will be accentuated by bubbles.

Question 18

Why is Traditional Method sparkling wine almost always more expensive than a Charmat Method sparkling wine?

Answer 18

• Charmat Method wines are made cheaply and quickly in large tanks, so there are lower labor costs and the turnaround time is quicker (sometimes only a handful of months from press to release), whereas Traditional Method wines typically spend at least 9 months sur lie and then time in bottle before being released to market.
• Traditional Method wines also have to be riddled, which adds time and cost.

Question 19

What does the term ‘Crémant’ in France mean?

Answer 19

French sparkling wine produced by méthode traditionnelle made outside the Champagne region.

Question 20

Give 3 examples of Crémants in France.

Answer 20

1. Crémant de Bourgogne
2. Crémant d’Alsace
3. Crémant de Loire

Question 21

What is a Gyropalette?

Answer 21

A computer-controlled machine for riddling (remuage).

• It sporadically vibrates while also slowly moving bottles from horizontal to a vertical position, with the cap facing downwards.
• Manual riddling takes up to eight weeks to complete whereas Gyropalette riddling takes three to four days.

Gyropalettes are very efficient, and they save time and money (for labor).

Question 22

How many bottles does a Gyropalette hold?

Answer 22

504

Question 23

Name 2 Grande Marque Champagne houses.

Answer 23

1. Ruinart
2. Taittinger

Question 24

Name 2 grower Champagne houses.

Answer 24

1. Georges Laval
2. Agrapart

Question 25

Name a Crémant de Bourgogne producer.

Answer 25

François Mikulski

Question 26

Name a Crémant d’Alsace producer.

Answer 26

Albert Boxler

Question 27

Name a Crémant de Loire producer.

Answer 27

Arnaud Lambert

Question 28

Name 2 Cava producers.

Answer 28

1. Avinyó
2. Juve y Camps

Question 29

Name 2 Franciacorta producers.

Answer 29

1. Bellavista
2. Ca’ del Bosco

Question 30

Name 2 Cap Classique producers.

Answer 30

1. Graham Beck
2. Simonsig

Question 31

Name 2 Prosecco producers.

Answer 31

1. Mionetto
2. Frozza

Question 32

Name 2 Moscato d’Asti producers.

Answer 32

1. G.D. Vajra
2. Vietti

Question 33

Name 2 Lambrusco producers.

Answer 33

1. Zanasi
2. Paltrineri

Question 34

Name 2 Méthod Ancestrale producers.

Answer 34

1. Patrick Bottex (Cerdon de Bugey, France)
2. Auntsfield (Marlborough, NZ)

Question 35

What foods generally pair best with Traditional Method sparkling wines?

Answer 35

• Can be simple and straightforward, e.g. raw oysters
• Salty/crunchy, e.g. potato chips or fried chicken
• Composed, savory entrées, e.g. roast chicken

You can find a Champagne that will go with anything.

Question 36

What foods generally pair best with Charmat Method sparkling wines?

Answer 36

• Antipasti
• Cured meats
• Simple cheese and charcuterie plates
• Pickled foods
• Snacks
• Picnics

Question 37

What are the 3 main grapes that go into making Champagne?

Answer 37

1. Chardonnay
2. Pinot Noir
3. Pinot Meunier

Question 38

Can you pair Champagne with dessert?

Answer 38

Yes!

Go for Demi-Sec, such as Billecart-Salmon’s or Pol Roger’s ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ and pair with strawberries and crème fraîche.

Avoid pairing desserts with low dosage wines.

Question 39

Is Cava a DO or a sparkling wine?

Answer 39

• It’s both.
• While 95% of Cava comes from Penedès (the DO is in Catalunya), there are also areas in Aragón, Euskadi, Extremadura, La Rioja, Navarra, and València that are authorized to make Cava wine.

Question 40

What is Corpinnat?

Answer 40

A collective brand registered with the European Union. As of May 2021, it comprises 11 estates located within a strictly delimited region inside the existing DO of Penedès.

Read more about it here.