Sparkling / Bubble

Here you will find all our sparkling wines. Champagnes of course but also beautiful Winzersekt, Crémant, Pet Nat and top Cava.

How do those bubbles get into the bottle?

Yeast cells not only produce alcohol but also heat and carbon dioxide (CO2). In still wine, this evaporates during fermentation. In sparkling wines, the carbon dioxide remains.

Gazeuse and Charmat

There are several ways to keep or get carbonation in a wine. The simplest is to add carbonation, gazeuse . This is the way for simple and cheap bubbles. A second way is the méthode Charmat . Most ferments in a large closed stainless steel vat and the CO2 cannot escape. The sparkling wine is bottled under pressure, in a closed system. Charmat is used in cheaper Prosecco.

Champagne

The third way is the méthode traditionelle , with second fermentation in the bottle. First you make normal still wine. Then you blend it with vin de garde , older wines from previous years. This blend is bottled and matured. Small side step; the wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Malic acid is therefore not converted into the softer lactic acid. For Champagne you want to retain that freshness.

The winemaker then adds a paste of sugar and yeast cells, sealed with a crown cork in each bottle. The yeast cells produce a little alcohol - about 1% - and a good amount of carbon dioxide. The bottles can lie on slats ( sur lattes ) for years. The yeast cells form a layer on the bottom.
The bottles go into a pupitre with the neck down, the yeast sinks to the mouth. In the past this was done by hand by placing the bottle more and more vertically in the pupitres and giving it a little tug. So that the yeast plug sinks down and the wine remains clear. This is called remuage . Now this can be done mechanically with bottles in large racks ( gyropalettes ).

Dosage

Finally, the bottles are put upside down with their necks through an ice-cold brine bath. The yeast plug freezes. When opened, the plug shoots out, but not the wine. The icy cold does not do much for the carbon dioxide. The winemaker may add the liqueur d'expedition or dosage . This determines the type of taste from dry ( brut, extra brut ) to sweet (demi-sec, doux ). If he does not add anything, it is called z ero dosage or brut nature .

Not only Champagne undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, but also Crémant, the better Cava , Winzersekt , and Franciacorta .