Stage 4
Other Styles of Wine
Sparkling wines
There are many ways to make a sparkling wine but only two are suitable for the production of quality sparkling wine and they are the Traditional Method and the Transfer Method.
Traditional Method
The process begins by making a still, dry, white wine in the usual way. The wine is then bottled and a small amount of sugar and yeast are added and the bottled is closed using a crown cap. The wine is then put into the cellars to age and the second fermentation takes place during this time. As with all fermentations the by-product is CO2 and alcohol. The CO2 cannot escape due to the crown cap and therefore dissolves into the wine making it sparkle. The alcohol produced will increase the total alcohol content of the wine by 1-2% abv. After the second fermentation has taken place the dead yeast cells are in contact with the wine while it ages and this produces what is called autolysis, which imparts yeasty flavours into the wine.
After the wine has aged for the desired period the yeast cells need to be removed. In order to do this bottles are tilted and shaken - a process called Riddling. This used to be done by hand but is now carried out using a machine called a Gyropallet, which was invented by the Spanish for the Cava industry.
Once the plug of sediment is in the neck of the bottle it can be removed - a process called Disgorgement. This is done by freezing the neck of the bottle, removing the crown cap and then removing the sediment.
The next stage is the addition of dosage, which is a mixture of wine and sugar, which will determine the sweetness level of the wine. To make a rosé Champagne some red wine is added.
Transfer Method
The transfer method is probably the next best method to the traditional method as the resulting wines can have a good level of yeast autolysis. The wines are made in the exact same way as the traditional method up until the disgorgement stage. Instead of riddling the sediment then removing it from each bottle individually, the bottles are emptied into a pressurized tank and the wine is filtered to remove the sediment then rebottled in clean bottles. Therefore the wines will have spent some time on their lees and will have the much sought after yeasty flavours known as autolysis.
Champagne
Champagne is a wine region in northern France where there is a cool climate and chalky soils which provide ideal growing conditions for the production of the base wines which have high acidity and light alcohol. There are two types of Champagne produced.
Non Vintage (NV), which is a blend of wines from different years in order to produce a house style each time. These wines are aged for a minimum of 15 months.
Vintage is a wine made in a good year and will age for a minimum of 3 years.
Champagne is made from 2 black grapes – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and one white grape – Chardonnay. Brands are very important in Champagne, which range from BOBs (Buyers Own Brand) such as Sainsbury and Marks and Spencer to famous houses known as Grande Marques such as Krug, Moet et Chandon and Bollinger. The better wines are dry with complex green and citrus fruit and autolysis flavours of biscuit, toast, bread and brioche. Vintage wines will have more complexity and have vegetal and mushroom notes.
Key Regional Grape Varieties
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Pinot Meunier
French Cremant AC Wines
French Cremant AC wines are made in many areas of France including the Alsace, Burgundy, The Loire Valley, Bordeaux, and Limoux in the Languedoc-Roussillon. Some strict sparkling wine rules exist for the Cremant wines including whole bunch pressing and the use of the traditional method for production. The wines are made from the traditional grapes of the region in which they are made for instance in Saumur in the Loire Valley they use Chenin Blanc. The word Cremant used to refer to the creaminess of the mouse and before the AC was created these wines would have had less pressure than Champagne.
Cava
Cava is traditionally made from 3 Spanish grape varieties however Chardonnay is sometimes part of the blend and Pinot Noir is now also allowed. Cava used to be called Champana but due to the confusion this could cause with the name Champagne the name was changed to Cava, which means cellar in Catalan. The wine was first made in the 1870’s by Cordoniu and is made by the traditional method. It is made in many provinces including Catalonia, Rioja, Navarra, the Basque country, Aragon and Valencia however the great majority is made in Penedes in Catalonia.
Prosecco
Prosecco is a still and a sparkling wine made in Veneto in northeast Italy using a grape of the same name. The wine is made by the tank method.
Muscat Sparkling Wines
Perhaps the most well known Muscat sparkling wines are Asti and Moscato d’Asti DOCG from Piedmont in Italy. These two wines differ significantly as the Moscato d’Asti has a much lower alcohol level and is frizzante rather than spumante as it is only 1 atmosphere. They are both made using a version of the tank method.