Traditional method
Champagne technology sector by
STATION OENOTECHNIQUE DE CHAMPAGNE®
This method requires manual grape harvests for most appellations (Champagne, Crémant, Franciacorta, Alta Langa, etc.), and the pressing must be done in the hours following the harvest or otherwise the berries might be crushed and the juices will oxidise.
After the alcoholic and possibly malolactic fermentations, we move onto the assemblage which is the art of blending wines from different years, grape varieties and vintages.
The mousse is only produced in the bottle.
This method is characterised by ageing. The wine will now settle on these lees inside a horizontal bottle (on slats) and stacked in cool cellars. Depending on the appellations, this phase of maturing will last from 9 months to several decades for exceptional bottles.
The “remuage” (riddling) on a console or automated system such as the Gyropalette© makes it possible to collect the deposits of inactive yeast in the neck of the bottle.
The disgorging and dosage are the last operations with this method. Having expelled the deposits, the wine is supplemented by a more or less sweet wine called expedition liqueur or dosage liquor which will give the different qualities of dosage (No Added Sugar, Extra Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Medium Dry and Sweet).
