BIOLOGY-CHAMPAIGNE MAKING
CHAMPAIGNE MAKING
The
rest of the world makes sparkling wine, rather than Champagne, but many
winemakers use the "Methode
Champenoise" to make theirs.
In
this method of winemaking the grapes are only twice. Prestige Cuvée is made from the first pressing.
After the pressing comes fermentation. The First
Fermentation produces still wine, and lasts about two or three weeks.
Then comes the Blending. Here is where the winemaker
earns his or her keep. It really takes great knowledge and instincts to know
which grapes, from which harvest, from which village or region would make the
best wine.
After blending comes the Second Fermentation. At
this point the winemaker adds the Liqueur de Tirage to start this
fermentation. The liqueur the tirage is a blend of sugar and yeast. This
fermentation produces the carbon dioxide that makes the distinctive bubbles.
At the start of the second fermentation the wine is
placed in its permanent bottle, though it will have a temporary cap.
Aging is a very important step in the process. The
second fermentation produces sediment that plays a crucial part in the aging.
The quality of the wine will be determined by the length of time that it spent
aging with the sediment.
But how do you get rid of the sediment without
losing the bubbles? By a process called Riddling. In this process the
bottles are placed in special racks with the neck of the bottle down. Gravity
does it job by letting the sediment settle in the neck of the bottle. The
bottles are given a slight turned by hand in order to coax the sediment into
settling into the neck, though some winemakers do this by mechanical means.
After about eight weeks, and many many slight turns, all the sediment has
accumulated in the neck, and it is now time to get rid of it.
This is done by <DÉGORGEMENT< Dosage,
and it determines how sweet or how dry the wine will be. Brute is the driest
type of wine, Extra Dry is semi dry, Sec is semisweet, and Demi-Sec is the
sweetest.
After the dosage is added the bottle is Recorked
with its distinctive cork and wire fastening.
Sparkling wine and Champagne should be drunk right
after you buy it. Non vintage champaign can be kept for about three years,
while vintage and prestige cuvée can be kept about fifteen years at most
