VINSIGHTS

A staff training infographic worth 1,000 words by MARNIE OLD

All wines sparkle at some point in their production because carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fermenting sugar into alcohol. However, sparkling wine as we know it was an innovation of the 19th century that was pioneered in the Champagne region of France, just north of Burgundy. The key to their success was to subject a base wine made from underripe grapes to a second fermentation in a technique that was once known as the Champagne Method, but is now formally called the Traditional Method.

MAKING SENSE OF THE TRADITIONAL METHOD OF SPARKLING WINEMAKING

Grapes are picked underripe and made into low-alcohol, dry white wine with very high acidity, often from a mix of red and white grapes. Base wines are typically complex blends of multiple grape varieties and vintages.

Base wines are combined with measured doses of cultured yeasts and cane sugar in each individual bottle. These are sealed with beer-style crown caps and stacked in cool cellars.

Special yeasts that can ferment under pressure consume every shred of added sugar and convert it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Since this gas cannot escape the bottle, the wine becomes carbonated.

1- MAKE THE BASE WINE 2 – ADD SUGAR & YEAST 3 – 2 ND FERMENTATION

4 – AGE WINE ON THE LEES 5 – REMOVE SEDIMENT 6 – TOP UP & ADD SUGAR

Once all sugar is depleted, the yeasts die off and fall as a sediment. Wines can spend from 6 months to 10 years in contact with these“ lees,” which enrich texture and add a desirable flavor of yeast-raised baked goods.

Bottles are carefully inverted such that their solids slide into the neck. Here, they are trapped by freezing and ejected, a process known as disgorgement.

When the bottle is topped up before being corked, a tiny amount of cane sugar is added. Known as the dosage, this determines the wine’ s final sweetness level.

WHY DO WINEMAKERS GO TO SO MUCH TROUBLE? THE RESULTS ARE WORTH THE EFFORT

The Traditional Method is laborious and time consuming. But it is still used for all of the world’ s best sparkling wines, because of the unrivalled quality of its resulting wines. Aging the wine on its lees in each bottle – after the second fermentation and before is disgorged- plays a key role in enhancing texture and enriching flavor through contact with yeast sediments. All French Champagnes must age at least 18 months sur lies, while prestige bottlings may age up to 10 years. In other regions, a similar pattern is followed, but the aging periods may or may not be regulated. Some less-expensive sparkling wines, like prosecco or moscato, are made by other methods that are considerably faster and simpler, but their results are commensurately lower in quality. •

Marnie Old is one of the country’ s leading wine educators. Formerly the director of wine studies for Manhattan’ s French Culinary Institute, she is best known for her visually engaging books published by DK – such as Wine: A Tasting Course. Marnie currently serves as director of vinlightenment for Boisset Collection.

www. beveragedynamics. com Summer 2025 • Beverage Dynamics 7