LADV - Wine Course

Sparkling Wine: Grapes and Places

Sparkling Wine: Grapes and Places

Sparkling wines of one sort or another are made by every wineproducing country in the world . . . Which is hardly surprising, since the carbon dioxide that creates the bubbles in the wine is a natural by-product of fermentation.

When wine is made, yeast attacks the natural sugar in the grape juice and converts it into alcohol and C02. Normally, the gas immediately escapes, but if the winemaker has the intention to create a sparkling product, he traps the gas in the wine. Trapped, remains dissolved until the pressure is released when it rapidly makes its way to the surface in the form of tiny bubbles.

The phenomenon was probably discovered by accident. In Champagne, 90 miles North East of Paris, the rather acidic local wines would often start to referment in the bottle come the spring, having lain dormant during the unusually cold winters.

Often, the bottles would explode with the increased pressure. A Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, who adopted a rather more scientific approach to wine making than most, turned his attention to the successful production of his extraordinary prodigy, sparkling wine.

He bought stronger bottles from England to withstand the thrust and, from traveling Spanish monks, learned about the peculiar sealing qualities of corks. His monastery received taxes from outlying villages in the form of wine, so he learned the art of blending the wines to create the best cuvee for Champagne. By about 1700, Champagne, a slightly pinkish sparkling wine, was first available in bottle from. From that time on, it has remained the Hoover of sparkling wines.

And just as there are ranks of other vacuum cleaners which equally deserve their own identity, so too, do the alternative sparkling wines deserve recognition. The vast range of sparkling wines includes members

as different from each other as a genuine stilton from a triangle of processed cheese. For not only does the way in which the gas is trapped vary from a highly skilled, labor-intensive science to a heavy-handed, mass-produced routine, but also the base wine itself can be good, merely reasonable, or downright poor.

A large part of Champagne’s supreme quality is governed by precisely the right grapes, grown in precisely the right way. To make fine sparkling wine, you need a base wine with high acidity and a fairly low-profile character.

In cool Champagne, the geological and climatic conditions (essentially chalk and very cool) are precisely right for producing these rather astringent wines.

Only three varieties of grape - two red and one white - are permitted by law to be grown in the region: the Pinot Noir, the Pinot Meunier, and the Chardonnay. Various combinations and proportions of these go into making every Champagne blend.

The white juice of all three is blended into an “assemblage” to achieve the style sought by each producer. “Blanc de Blancs” is made from Chardonnay alone.

Rosé Champagne may be made in one of two ways. The skins can be left in contact with the wine briefly during fermentation. However, more usually, true red wine is made from the Pinot Noir, and added into the white wines.

Certainly some areas (such as California) frequently use the same recipe as Champagne, but in general, each of the world’s regions makes sparkling wine from its own choice of grapes. Because most wines undergo two fermentations

THE CUVE CLOSE/TANK METHOD

After initial fermentation in tank, the still base wines are tasted and blended to make a cuvée.

The blend is then run into huge stainless steel tanks, which are topped up with a precise amount of a wine-and-sugar solution and specially cultured yeasts.

The tanks are then sealed and secondary fermentation either stops naturally, or is halted by the wine being chilled.

If it is to be matured, the wine will then rest on the yeast for a few months. If not, it is immediately pumped through a chilling machine until it is reduced in temperature to below zero. This stabilizes it – and keeps the C02 in suspense for the rest of the process.

The wine must then be filtered (under pressure) first by centrifuge, then through filter sheets.

It returns to a large vat, where the dosage (a mixture of sugar and wine) is added to complete the blend.

Before bottling, it may be further matured, or go straight to the bottling plant, where it is again chilled, and bottled.

THE TRANSFER METHOD

in order to trap the sparkle and because the finished product is almost always sweetened before bottling, it is possible for the original character of the wine to be lost. Indeed, at the cheaper end of the scale, base wines to make mass-produced inexpensive sparklers are bought not by grape variety, but by acidity and price.

This is essentially a cross between Champagne and Cuve Close methods.

Once the initial blend has been prepared, it is treated with the correct balance of cultivated yeast and sugar before being laid down to ferment and mature. Once this process is complete (the time depends on the cellar-master), the bottles are uncorked and the wine is removed under pressure, filtered, and transferred to tanks.

The wine may be blended at this stage, and a consignment homogenized.

It is then pushed out of the tank under pressure, refiltered through cellulose, and bottled with the added dosage of sweetened wine.

There are, however, exceptions: areas using entirely idiosyncratic grape varieties. One such is Piedmont in Northern Italy, responsible for making Asti Spumante. Here the most popular grape is the Muscat. Muscat is a highly scented, honeyed-sweet grape variety (remember the dried muscatel?). When vinified into the delicately sweet Asti Spumante, the grape shows off its fragrance and character admirably. The secret is that Asti is made sparkling through one fermentation only, capturing all the flavor of the grape. It must be drunk as young as possible to be appreciated.

THE CARBONATION METHOD

The base wine is fermented to dryness. A secondary fermentation is not necessary, since the carbonation is achieved artificially. It is then fined filtered, and sweetened. The wine is chilled to zero centigrade and injected with C02 in tanks. The C02, which is collected from the fermentation of beer, spirits, or wine is supplied in liquid form, but reverts to gas when it leaves the cylinder.

The carbonated wine leaves the tank under pressure and is bottled and sealed.

Another is old style Sekt. Sekt is now the name given to all German sparkling wine, whatever the quality. Any wine may now be made into Sekt according to German law – any wine from anywhere in the world, as long as it is made to sparkle in Germany. The more conscientious producers still make their Sekt from Riesling however, again grown in a cool climate and so gaining high levels of acidity. These wines can be wonderful examples of the grape, with their bubbles giving them a very intense bouquet.

Two good families of sparkling wine, both made in the same labor intensive method as Champagne, are Saumur and Cava. Saumur wines come from the area south of Saumur on the Loire in France, where the soil structure is like that in Champagne. These wines claim to be the best “Champagne alternative,” and certainly follow the same style – although, they are lighter in body. The grape varieties used are two white - the Chardonnay and the Chenin Blanc - and one red, the Cabernet Franc.

Cava is the name adopted by the quality sparkling wines of Spain, all made by the expensive Champagne method. These largely come from around San Sadurni de Noya in the Penedes area, with a few being made in Valencia and in Rioja. The principle grape varieties are the Xarel’lo, the Macabeo, and the Parellada – all white grapes, with occasionally a little black Monastrell thrown in for good measure to give body and longevity to the wine.

How Champagne is Made

is Made

If you make wine in a strong enough container that is tightly sealed, it will become sparkling. The carbon dioxide given off during fermentation will be trapped, and the resultant pressure that will build up will keep it suspended in solution in the wine. When the pressure is released, it will escape as bubbles.

The process of making sparkling wine, however, is not as simple as that, because carbon dioxide is not the only by-product of fermentation. A sediment is always “thrown” as well. Removing sediment from still wine is quite a simple operation, easily effected because the wine itself does not have to be kept under pressure. Sparkling wine does, however, or it will quickly go flat. The method of removing the sediment is the key factor in the different methods for making Champagne and sparkling wine.

In the earliest days, when Dom Perignon was laboring away in his cellar, the sediment riddle was unsolved. He encouraged a secondary fermentation in his new, strong bottles and fastened them securely with cork and string. The bottles were then left over the winter standing on their corks up to their necks in sand. When the second fermentation was completed,

the sediment was mostly lying on top of the cork. The Champagne was then sold either cul en I’ air (bottom up), the bottles being transported to their end destination upside down, so that when the cork was finally removed, the sediment (and a lot of wine) would burst out as well; or transvasée - transferred, without the sediment, into another bottle which was then sealed again (after the loss of some pressure) with another cork.

Since then, several methods have been devised to remove the sediment without losing the pressure. The one that is generally accepted as being the most effcientandkindesttothewineistheChampagne Method first invented by Veuve Clicquot. This, to date, has been highly labor intensive, lengthy, and consequently very costly as well.

Alternative “bulk” methods are used to pare down costs, usually on essentially cheaper base wines. Certainly these remove the sediment well enough, but they also sacrifice a certain amount of refinement in the wine.

THE CHAMPAGNE METHOD

THE CUVE CLOSE/TANK METHOD

After initial fermentation in tank, the still base wines are tasted and blended to make a cuvée.

The blend is then run into huge stainless steel tanks, which are topped up with a precise amount of a wine-and-sugar solution and specially cultured yeasts.

The tanks are then sealed and secondary fermentation either stops naturally, or is halted by the wine being chilled.

THE TRANSFER METHOD

This is essentially a cross between Champagne and Cuve Close methods.

All the base wines chosen to make up a particular blend are, first, individually fermented until bone dry. Then comes the assemblage, when, in the precise proportions dictated by the chef de cave, they are all married together in a vast vat. Next, a solution of wine and sugar is added, along with specially cultured yeasts, in order to provoke a secondary fermentation.

Once the initial blend has been prepared, it is treated with the correct balance of cultivated yeast and sugar before being laid down to ferment and mature. Once this process is complete (the time depends on the cellar-master), the bottles are uncorked and the wine is removed under pressure, filtered, and transferred to tanks.

Before this is allowed to start, the wine is bottled and the bottles are sealed with a strong crown cork (nowadays usually like a cap on a beer bottle). The bottles are then stacked on their sides in a cool cellar and left for the fermentation to slowly run its course.

If it is to be matured, the wine will then rest on the yeast for a few months. If not, it is immediately pumped through a chilling machine until it is reduced in temperature to below zero. This stabilizes it – and keeps the C02 in suspense for the rest of the process.

The wine may be blended at this stage, and a consignment homogenized.

In Champagne, the minimum period the wine must rest on the resultant sediment is one year. Although, for anything other than the cheapest Champagne, the period is generally considerably longer. Three years would be normal for an ordinary non-vintage grande marque (or well-known brand).

The wine must then be filtered (under pressure) first by centrifuge, then through filter sheets.

It returns to a large vat, where the dosage (a mixture of sugar and wine) is added to complete the blend.

Before bottling, it may be further matured, or go straight to the bottling plant, where it is again chilled, and bottled.

It is then pushed out of the tank under pressure, refiltered through cellulose, and bottled with the added dosage of sweetened wine.

THE CARBONATION METHOD

After this period, the wine is removed from its resting place, it is shaken a couple of times to blend the sediment back into the wine. Then, the wine is placed, neck first, into specially designed sloping racks, called pupitres, to begin with at more or less a horizontal angle. Gradually, the sediment comes to rest again along the length of the bottle.

The base wine is fermented to dryness. A secondary fermentation is not necessary, since the carbonation is achieved artificially. It is then fined filtered, and sweetened. The wine is chilled to zero centigrade and injected with C02 in tanks. The C02, which is collected from the fermentation of beer, spirits, or wine is supplied in liquid form, but reverts to gas when it leaves the cylinder.

The carbonated wine leaves the tank under pressure and is bottled and sealed.

Then comes the skilled job of the remueur, whose sole purpose is to gently shake the sediment down so that it rests on the cork. Because there are large and small particles, all of which must be coaxed in the right direction, this job is tackled step by step. Each day, every single bottle being given a twist, turn, and tilted slightly more on to the cork. This way, the larger particles gather up the smaller particles as they all descend down towards the cork. The whole job takes about a month, but is now frequently done by machine.

Finally the bottles are able to be stored sur point, where they remain until dégorgement. Still on their corks, they are taken to a special mechanical line, where the necks of the bottles are first frozen, concentrating the sediment into a block.

The bottles are then turned the right way up, the corks removed, and the sediment pops out. The wine remaining in the bottle is then topped up with more of the same wine and a little liquid sugar, known as the dosage, before being corked with the traditional Champagne cork tied down with wire. Champagne with no dosage is among the driest wine in the world because all the sugar is literally fermented out, so the added sweetness is necessary for most palates.

Making Sparkling Wines

Making Sparkling Wines

“Alternative” methods for removing the sediment from wine that has been fermented to become sparkling - alternative to the traditional Champagne Method, that is - are generally considered to be less refined than the original prototype.

Their adherents, however, believe that by taking the maximum amount of care, the results can be just as good.

In California, due to a labelling quirk, the Transfer Method is very popular. Champagne Method wines are described as “fermented in this bottle,” while the confusingly similar “fermented in the bottle” is the label attached to Transfer Method wines.

The charmat (named after its inventor) or Cuve Close method - i.e. making the second fermentation in bulk, in huge closed tanks, has been boasted as being the “ideal way” to make sparkling wine.

Champagne is concerned, the larger the bottle for secondary fermentation, the better the wine, or so they say. Certainly a magnum is an optimum size, but vast steel tanks with a capacity of 120,000 liters are something else again.

One German wine company reckons that the secret to producing a very fine mousse (bubbles) through this tank process is to stir the yeast back into the wine during fermentation and throughout the lengthy resting period before the wine is bottled.

How Champagne is Made

Of course, Dom Perignon was the first chap to transfer his wines from one bottle to another to get rid of the sediment, but this simple sounding trick is not as simple - or as kind to the wine - as it might appear. This is because “between bottles” as it were, the wine is emptied into tanks and must be kept under pressure because it is often on the move. If this is just a fraction too high, you get unnatural carbonation in the wine.

If you make wine in a strong enough container that is tightly sealed, it will become sparkling. The carbon dioxide given off during fermentation will be trapped, and the resultant pressure that will build up will keep it suspended in solution in the wine. When the pressure is released, it will escape as bubbles.

The process of making sparkling wine, however, is not as simple as that, because carbon dioxide is not the only by-product of fermentation. A sediment is always “thrown” as well. Removing sediment from still wine is quite a simple operation, easily effected because the wine itself does not have to be kept under pressure. Sparkling wine does, however, or it will quickly go flat. The method of removing the sediment is the key factor in the different methods for making Champagne and sparkling wine.

In the earliest days, when Dom Perignon was laboring away in his cellar, the sediment riddle was unsolved. He encouraged a secondary fermentation in his new, strong bottles and fastened them securely with cork and string. The bottles were then left over the winter standing on their corks up to their necks in sand. When the second fermentation was completed,

So confident are they about the results, that they obtained an unfermented cuvée from Champagne and put it through their process to be tasted beside a similar cuvée fermented in bottle in Champagne. They claim that the results were indistinguishable; but however go-ahead Champagne producers may be, it is singularly unlikely that they would ever consider installing secondary fermentation tanks.

the sediment was mostly lying on top of the cork. The Champagne was then sold either cul en I’ air (bottom up), the bottles being transported to their end destination upside down, so that when the cork was finally removed, the sediment (and a lot of wine) would burst out as well; or transvasée - transferred, without the sediment, into another bottle which was then sealed again (after the loss of some pressure) with another cork.

Since then, several methods have been devised to remove the sediment without losing the pressure. The one that is generally accepted as being the most effcientandkindesttothewineistheChampagne Method first invented by Veuve Clicquot. This, to date, has been highly labor intensive, lengthy, and consequently very costly as well.

Alternative “bulk” methods are used to pare down costs, usually on essentially cheaper base wines. Certainly these remove the sediment well enough, but they also sacrifice a certain amount of refinement in the wine.

THE CUVE CLOSE/TANK METHOD

THE CUVE CLOSE/TANK METHOD

After initial fermentation in tank, the still base wines are tasted and blended to make a cuvée.

The blend is then run into huge stainless steel tanks, which are topped up with a precise amount of a wine-and-sugar solution and specially cultured yeasts.

The tanks are then sealed and secondary fermentation either stops naturally, or is halted by the wine being chilled.

If it is to be matured, the wine will then rest on the yeast for a few months. If not, it is immediately pumped through a chilling machine until it is reduced in temperature to below zero. This stabilizes it – and keeps the C02 in suspense for the rest of the process.

The wine must then be filtered (under pressure) first by centrifuge, then through filter sheets.

It returns to a large vat, where the dosage (a mixture of sugar and wine) is added to complete the blend.

Before bottling, it may be further matured, or go straight to the bottling plant, where it is again chilled, and bottled.

THE TRANSFER METHOD

THE TRANSFER METHOD

This is essentially a cross between Champagne and Cuve Close methods.

Once the initial blend has been prepared, it is treated with the correct balance of cultivated yeast and sugar before being laid down to ferment and mature. Once this process is complete (the time depends on the cellar-master), the bottles are uncorked and the wine is removed under pressure, filtered, and transferred to tanks.

The wine may be blended at this stage, and a consignment homogenized.

It is then pushed out of the tank under pressure, refiltered through cellulose, and bottled with the added dosage of sweetened wine.

THE CARBONATION METHOD

THE CARBONATION METHOD

The base wine is fermented to dryness. A secondary fermentation is not necessary, since the carbonation is achieved artificially. It is then fined filtered, and sweetened. The wine is chilled to zero centigrade and injected with C02 in tanks. The C02, which is collected from the fermentation of beer, spirits, or wine is supplied in liquid form, but reverts to gas when it leaves the cylinder.

The carbonated wine leaves the tank under pressure and is bottled and sealed.

Sparkling Wine Apperance

Sparkling Wine Apperance

Having read about all the different methods for putting a sparkle into wine, you may well wonder what exactly is the difference between the results

The most obvious one is the appearance of the bubbles. The most desirable sort of “mousse” to have (it’s called “beading” in America) is the smallest bubbles imaginable, travelling rapidly up to the surface of the wine in fine strings.

In a well-made Champagne the mousse is quite light and extremely long lived. Not only should the bubbles last quite vigorously until you have finished the glass, but they should also have the stamina to remain in an opened bottle as well for, perhaps, as long as a day.

Not all Champagnes have precisely the same mousse, however, the end result being dictated by each precise process of making the wine. Particularly, by the percentage of added yeast and sugar. In Champagne, there is a Crémant category, which has precisely half the mousse of usual fizz. This resulted from half the normal addition of yeast and sugar before the second fermentation.

Cuve Close wines, particularly those that are given little time to mature, tend to have much more active bubbles which are larger in size. These usually climb to the surface individually, seldom in threads, and are very vigorous initially, but die down quickly. Or course, some wines in this category are much more refined than others, and consequently have a more delicate mousse.

It is crucial that the pressure exerted on the wine to maintain the fizz is judged just right, because if it becomes a shade too strong, the sparkle can become unnaturally powerful. This fault may occasionally be detected in transfer method wines as well. Certainly the mousse is affected by the transfer of the wine from bottle to vat, and the result is slightly clumsier bubbles with a shorter life.

Both these methods produce much finer results than carbonation, as you might expect. Carbonated wine is very little different in appearance from carbonated lemonade, with big, boisterous bubbles that die out almost immediately.

The Cork

Think of Champagne - or of any sparkling wine - and you inevitably think of the sound of a loud pop and a dying, mushroom-shaped cork. But why are Champagne corks the shape they are?

Unlike corks for still wines, which are simply cut from the bark of a single piece of cork tree, Champagne corks are made up of laminations of three or more different textures of wood. The springiest are to be found at the end nearest the wine, the hardest at the end held down by the wire.

Before bottling, the corks, which appear far too large ever to fit into the bottle necks, are soaked in water and forced into the bottles with some pressure. The expansion of the cork should ensure a tight seal between stopper and bottle, thus preventing any possible escape of the precious bubbles. By law, corks used for Champagne - as opposed to other sparkling wines - have to be printed with the word ‘Champagne’.

Sweet and Dry

The Cork Sweet And Dry

Just as every wine lover seems to have his or her own favorite Champagne, there is a grade of sweetness to suit almost every taste.

Since, with the exception of those wines (such as Moscato) which are made from naturally sweet grapes, all sparkling wines have to be sweetened. The tradition of making different flavors for different markets has existed for a very long time. The Italians like their fizz sweet. The British prefer it drier.

Recently, a vogue has sprung up for bone dry Champagne - wine without even the faintest hint of sweetness - one of whose names, “Brut Sauvage,” fairly describes the impression it makes on the sweeter-toothed.

Serving Sparkling Wine

1.Chilled, but not over-chilled, should be the watchword. Unless you want exploded bottles and glassy, expensive ice Jollies, the freezer compartment should be treated with great discretion. Two hours in the lower part of the fridge should suffce.

2. Hold the cork, and turn the bottle. Special Champagne “pliers” can be bought which can assist in the removal of recalcitrant corks.

3. After removing the cork, hold the bottle at an angle for a few seconds, until the froth dies down.

4. Keep the bottle cool in a bucket of water and ice cubes, rather than ice alone.

5. Half-full bottles can be re-sealed with patent Champagne stoppers, ordinary wine corks, or the original corks from which V-shaped nicks have been cut along their length. It is also said that a teaspoon allowed to hang down into the bottle will help the wine keep its sparkle . . .

6. Tulip-shaped glasses are best, if you want to make the most of the bubbles and the aroma.

7. Champagne and any dry sparkling wine go perfectly with almost any food.

Bottle Sizes

Serving Sparkling Wine Bottle Sizes

Few people can ever remember exactly which of the larger Champagne bottles are which. So here is the complete list:

Magnum - 2 standard bottles.

Jereboam - 4 standard bottles. Rehoboam - 6 standard bottles. Methuselah - 8 standard bottles. Salmanazar- 12 standard bottles. Balthazar -16 standard bottles. Nebuchadnezzar - 20 standard bottles.

Nebuchadnezzars and Balthazars are somewhat scarce.

Champagne, like most other sparkling wine, is usually sold to be drunk soon after its purchase. Some bottles of Non-Vintage may improve after a year or two in the cellar. However, in theory at least, they should have done their ageing before they were ever sold. Fizz bought from shops with a slow turnover should be treated with some caution.

Smaller bottles mature faster than large ones. A magnum will generally taste far fresher than a half bottle of the “same” wine.

Types of Sparkling Wine Types of Sparkling Wine

CHAMPAGNE

CHAMPAGNE

Under EEC law, only wine made by the Champagne Method, from grapes grown in clearly established vineyards around Reims and Epernay, can be sold under this label in Europe. Elsewhere, the rules are very much more lax. In Russia, Australia, and the USA for instance, home-produced “Champagne” is easy to find. The real stuff, bottled - by definitionin Champagne itself, will carry a producer’s code number at the foot of its label. It will also clearly be French.

include all Cava wines from Spain, a number from Italy - where they may be called “Metodo Classico” - and a very few from Germany.

will have been made in this way - because of the local labelling regulations which permit Transfer Method wines to say “Fermented in the bottle.”

RECEMMENT DÉGORGÉ

RECEMMENT DÉGORGÉ

Champagne Method wines are normally dégorgé (have their yeasts removed) as soon as they are ready - generally after around 2-3 months. Recemment Dégorgé – or “R. D.” - wines are left, cork pointing downwards to rest on their yeasts and then to be disgorged soon before they are sold as ready for drinking. They are relatively rare.

CHAMPAGNE METHOD/MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE

CHAMPAGNE METHOD/ MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE

Most sparkling wines from the Loire (principally Saumur and Vouvray), Burgundy, and Alsace are all made by the same method as Champagne. As are Blanquette de Limoux and Clairette de Die which claim to have been produced in this way long before Dom Perignon was born. Their labels and those of any other wines made by this process will normally state “Methode Champenoise.”

Other Champagne Method wines

CRÉMANT

CRÉMANT

Not strictly another method, but a description of wines which are slightly less fizzy than a standard Champagne or well-made sparkler. These would have a pressure of around 5.6 atmospheres against a figure of 3.5-4.5 for a Crémant. Confusingly, however, Crémant d’Alsace is just as fizzy as Champagne.

TRANSFER METHOD

TRANSFER METHOD

Very popular in the USA - Paul Masson Sparkling Wine bought in this country

CUVE CLOSE/CHRMAT

CUVE CLOSE/CHARMAT

The most famous Cuve Close is probably Veuve du Vernay, the original producer of which Monsieur Charmat invented the process. Nowadays, almost all sparkling wines of even minimal quality which are not made by the above methods will have been produced by Cuve Close. In Italy, labels may state “Fermentazione Naturale.” Asti Spumante and Moscato, unlike other Cuve Close wines, only go through a single fermentation in the vat.

CARBONATION

CARBONATION

Only the very cheapest, and possibly nastiest, of wines will have been made in this way. Even some “British” sparklers are now made by Cuve Close. Try putting a basic wine through a Sparklets Syphon and compare the result with even a basic Cuve Close, and you will see why.

COURSE NOTES:

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