Sparkling Wine Production

Question 1

What are the requirements for growing grapes for sparkling wine ?

Answer 1

Grapes should be relatively low in sugar
- The second fermentation increase the alcohol of 1.2-1.3%
- Therefore, the base wine must be around 10-11%

High acid levels are desired for many sparkling wines
- for refreshing syle

The flavours must stil be sufficiently ripe so they no longer have herbaceous characteristics

Question 2

In what climate sparkling wine grape varieties grow best ?
Why?

Answer 2

Coolest regions

Because sugar and acid levels happen slowly and at the same time as the changes of grape flavours

Question 3

Why is warm climate not really suitable for growing sparkling wine grapes?

Answer 3

Sugar levels can rise quickly
and acid levels falls quickly
You can pick early but flaovurs would still be greean

Question 4

How are harvested grapes for sparkling wine production ?

Answer 4

Hhand picked to retain whol bunches of unsplit grapes

In warm region,for inexpensive wine, machine harvesting is used to picking grapes before they accumulate too much sugar and lose acidity

Question 5

How are pressed grapes for sparkling wine production?

Answer 5

Pressed as soon as possible at their arrival at the winery
Gentle pressing to minise extraction of tannins and colour
especially important when using black grapes.
The use of whole bunches help, to avoid crushing
In EU, maximum pressure and amount of extracted juice is legislated

Question 6

What are the 6 methods of making sparkling wine ?

Answer 6

Traditional Method
Transfer Method
Ancestral Method
Tank method
Asti Mehod
Carbonation

Question 7

In European regions, what determines methods to produce sparkling wines ?

Answer 7

It may be determined by local laws

Question 8

What is the Traditional Method ?

Answer 8

A method to make sparkling wine
Indicateds a wine that has undergon a second fermentation in the bottle
most often used for premium wine, being costly and time-consuming

Question 9

What are the steps of the sparkling wine’s traditional method ?

Answer 9

Making the base wine
Blending
Second alcoholic fermentation
Yeast Autolysis
Riddling
Disgorgement and corking
Bottle ageing

Question 10

Explain the making of the base wine in sparkling wine method ?

Answer 10

First alcoholic fermentation takes palce in large temperature controlled stainless steel vats (Some producre still use oak vats or barrels)
Result in dry base wine, with neutral flavours and high acidity
Can go through malolactic conversion and/or maturation in oak depending on the style
Most base wine are used the year after the harvest
Some base wine are stored fo used in future years , called “reserve”

Question 11

Explain the functions of blending in sparkling wine method?
Give examples

Answer 11

1. Aim for a particular house style
2. Improve the balance of the wine
3. Enhance the complexity

Blending from different vineyards /varieties/vintages help achive style
Chardonnay could bring citrus and finess, wheras pinot noir brins body
Old reserve wines brings dried fruit to fresh flavours. Oak wines bring spices, and texture, etc.

Question 12

TExplain the second alcoholic fermentation in sparkling wine Traditional method ?

Answer 12

Small proportion of Liqueur de tirage is added
bottle is closed with a crown cap with a plastic cup insert
Bottles are stacked horizontally at cool temperature
Slow fermentation takes place
alcohol is raised by 1.2 -1.3% and the C02 generated by the yeast dissolves into the wine creatin the sparkle
Creates pressure in the bottle equivalent to 5to6 atmospheres

Question 13

What is liqueur de tirage ?

Answer 13

A mixture of wine, sugar, yeast, yeast nutrients and clarifying agent

Used in the second alcoholic fermentation in the sparkling wine traditional method

Question 14

Explain the Yeast autolysis in sparkling wine method

Answer 14

in traditional method

After second alcoholic fermentation, the yeast die and form a sediment of lees in the bottle

Over months, the dead yeast cells strat to break down releasing chemical compounds into the wine , process known as yeast autolysis.

Gives the wine bread, biscuit and toasty notes

More active over the first 4-5 years
Wines that spend a lot of time on their lees will develop more yeast character

Once autolysis is complete Keeping the lees in contact with the wine can maintain its freshness for years, but

most of the time, yeast is removed before autolysis is complete

Question 15

Explain riddling in sparkling wine method ?

Answer 15

After the period of maturation, in traditional method
Moving the bottle very slowly from a horizontal to an inverted vertival position.
They yeast sediment is dislodged and slides down the side of the bottle, collecting in the plastic cup insert in the crown cap.

Traditionallly : By hand on a- frame rack called “pupitre” but very labor intensive, can take 8 weeks to complete
Now : mechanised hydraulic “gyropalette” that can manage 500 bottles at and time. Complete in a matter of days

Question 16

Explain the disgorgement in sparkling wine method ?

Answer 16

In traditional method
neck of the bottle is submerged in a very cold solution wich freezes the wine in the neck.
Bottle are inverted to normal position and sediments stay in place
crown cap seal is removed and the pressure ejects the frozen wine, sediment and plastic insert
The wine is then topped up with Liqueur d’expédition and sealed with a cork held secure by a wire cage
process is mechanized and last a matter of seconds to avoid loss of pressure and oxidation

Question 17

Explain corking in sparkling wine method ?

Answer 17

Wine is sealed with a cork and held secure by a wire cage
the cork is a cylinder with area on its round face about three times that of the opening of the bottle.
The mushroom shape comes about after corking.
It has to be compressed considerably befotre being inserted into the neck

Question 18

What is a Liqueur d’expédition ?

Answer 18

• Use in traditional method
• mixture of wine and sugar
• Amouth of sugar will determine the final level of sweetness in the wine and often known as dosage
• Use to balance the acidity and helps with flavour development
• The characteristics of the wine within the liqueur de d’expédition is very important. It is a second blending opration used to create the house style.

Question 19

What are called traditional method sparkling wine without sugar ?

Answer 19

Brut nature ou Zéro dosage

Depending of the producer adn wine region

A small proporition of wine is still added to top up the parklingw wine the to right level in the bottle.

Question 20

Explain bottle ageing in sparkling wine traditional method

Answer 20

• The wine may be aged for a further few months to allow the Liqueur d’expédition to integrate with the wine.
• Most are considered to be rady to drink when released, but some premium wines can benefit from further ageing.
• Most are not vintage-dated and therefore can be impossible to know if the wine is youthful or more mature . Some producer now include disgorgement dates ont their labels

Question 21

Explain the Sparkling wine Transfer Method

Answer 21

• Adaptation of the traditional method
• Avoids the costly and complex process of riddling and disgorgement
• The whole bottles are disgorged into a sealed tank u nder pressure.
• The inw is filtred to remove the yeast lees
• Liqueur d’expédition is added
• Wine is rebottled in fresh bottle
• Good quality at a cheaper price, and ensure consistent quality and style

Question 22

How is labelled the sparkling winen made from Transfer Method ?

Answer 22

it is possible to tell since the lable state “bottle-fermented”

whereas the traditional method will be labelled “ méthode traditionnelle”

Question 23

Explain the sparkling wine Ancestral Method

Answer 23

• Old method, but increase in popularity
• involves a single fermentation
• Fermenting juice is bottled pary way through the single fermentation, capturing the ccarbon dioxide in the bottle
• may or may not be disgorged ( if not, can be cloudy)
• on sales while young

Can be dry to off dry, have low to medium alcohol and very in pressure

Question 24

How are labelled sparkling wine from Ancestra Method ?

Answer 24

Pétillant naturel or Pet Nat

Question 25

What is the style of sparkling wine made by Tank Method ?

Answer 25

• Retains the flavours of the base wine
• Ideal to make sparkling wines from aromatic variety such as Muscat, Riesling or fruity styles such as Prosseco
• Do not show notes of yeast autoysis because they do not spend extended time on lees. It can be created by using paddles to stir leed during second fermentation
• it is cheaper, but high quality sparkling wines can be made in this way

Question 26

Why is Tank Method popular ?

Answer 26

It is cheaper, faster, less labour intensive
Allow the production of large volumes at lower price.

Question 27

Explain the Tank Method in Sparkling wine

Answer 27

• First fermentation takes place in temperature controlled saintless steel tanks to retain pure fruits
• The resulting wine do not usually undergo MLC or oak ageing
• liqueut d’expéidition is added to the wine and second fermentation takes palace in a sealed tank which withstand the pressure as CO2 dissolves in the wine
• Wine is filtred to remove the yeast lees
• bottled under pressure

Question 28

Where is produced Asti method Sparkling wine ?

Answer 28

principally in the production of sweet sparklingn wines in the Asti Region of Piemonte.

Question 29

What is the style of Asti Method sparkling wine ?

Answer 29

sweet, fruity sparkling wines.

Question 30

Explain the Asti Method for sparkling wine

Answer 30

• Juice is chilled and stored until needed
• Juice is warmed and fermentation take place in pressurised tanks
• CO2 is allowed to escape
• Part way in fermentation, the tank is sealed so that CO2 is retained
• Fermentation continues until alcohol reached appox. 7% and pressure of 4-5 atmospheres
• fermentation is stopped by chilling wine
• Filtered under pressure to remove yeast
• Bottled for immediate sale

Question 31

How many atmospheres of pressure does Asti have?

Answer 31

4 to 5 atmospheres

Question 32

Explain Carbonation Method in sparkling wine

Answer 32

Co2 is injected into a still wine, which is then bottled under pressure
Useful for producing fruit sparkling wines that retain flavours of the base wine
Often use for strong varietal flavour grapes (ex. Sauvignon Blanc)
Cheapest method

Question 33

Name the different styles of sparkling wine

Answer 33

Non-vintage
Vintage
Rosé
Blanc de Blancs
Blanc de Noirs
Prestige Cuvée

Question 34

name the Eu terms for sweetness in sparkling wines and the level of residual sugar

Answer 34

• Brut Nature 0-3 g/L
• Brut 0-12 g/L
• Demi-Sec 32-50 g/L

Question 35

Explain sugar levels and labelling of Sparkling wine

Answer 35

Sparkling wines from EU must use ceretain labelling terms.
Possible to use the low of high end of each range to describe the style

Sweetness labelled are copied around the world but are only mandatory when being sold in EU

Question 36

What is a non-vintage sparkling wine?

Answer 36

not a labelling term
Used to describe wines made from grapes harvested in more than one vintage
reprent the standard offering from the producer and display the house style

Question 37

What is a vintage sparkling wine ?

Answer 37

• In champagne, the wine must come from a single year.
• Some appellations may allow a small perccentage of grapes from other years to be included in the blend
• In regions experiencing considerable vintage variation, vintages will only be made in the very best years
• In other , it is more frequent and less esteemed

Question 38

What is a rosé sparkling wine ?

Answer 38

• Can be made by blending red and white base wines or by short maceration
• Colour can be adjusted with Liqueur d’expédition
• Some sparkling wine appellationsonly permit rosé to be made by maceration

Question 39

What is Blanc de Blancs?

Answer 39

A white sparkling wine made only from white grape varieties

Question 40

What is Blanc de Noirs ?

Answer 40

A white sparkling wine made only from black grape varieties

Question 41

What is a Prestige Cuvée ?

Answer 41

Not a labelling term - but syle of Sparkling wine
Describes the best wines in a producer’s range
In small number, but are an important part of the sparkling wine market
True of Champagne where reputations have been built on an association with luxury and celebration