Adding the sparkle to your sparkler

By Allen R. Balik

Recently, I was with a group of friends wanting to learn more about wine. While enjoying a famed Napa Valley sparkler, one in the group raised a question I’ve heard many times before, “Okay I agree Champagne and other sparklers are great, but how do they get the bubbles in the bottle?”

Actually, that’s a good question and really has four answers depending on the specific wine being discussed. However, we must first remember that all sparkling wines start out as still wines and adding the sparkle defines the wine while requiring the winemaker’s skills at an extremely high and complex level.

The classic Méthode Champenoise is also now referred to as Méthode Traditionelle outside of the Champagne region of France including the Crémant wines from the country’s other wine producing areas. It remains the gold standard, producing wines of great elegance and complexity with micro-fine bubbles. The Charmat method is far simpler. It produces quaffable wines with some expressing a degree of distinction such as Prosecco from Italy’s Veneto and Fruili Venezia Guilia regions

Pétillant Naturel (aka Pét-Nat) may be thought of as a sort of hybrid of the two. And for those very inexpensive sparklers with big bubbles, the still wine is merely carbonated like soda-pop or sparkling mineral water, creating wines of little character or interest, but sparklers none-the-less.

Let’s take a brief look at the differences and similarities.

The classic Méthode Champenoise (Méthode Traditionelle) is by far the most complex, expensive and time consuming production method. It calls upon the winemaker’s specialized talents beginning with the early days of the vintage while canvassing the vineyard and extending far beyond harvest and fermentation. The still winemaking process culminates with an arduous blending cycle, then the creation of bubbles in the bottle by a secondary fermentation and continues to disgorgement (removal) of the expended yeast cells remaining in the bottle.

Throughout each vintage winemakers are constantly thinking about the blend as they tour through the vineyards and sample the different varieties, vineyards and individual blocks. Non-Vintage and the newly adopted Multi-Vintage Champagnes pose the winemaker’s biggest challenge and offer the greatest triumph as they must always convey the house style regardless of the vagaries of individual vintages. Vintage Champagne (often more expensive and from a specific vintage) expresses both the style of the house along with the character of the vintage.

As the growing season and still wine production progress, the winemaker’s thoughts are focused on “where will the pieces fit into the final blend?” As many as 200 or more component still wines from various vineyards, vineyard blocks, varieties and vintages must be evaluated constantly to determine the role each will play.

Once the final blend is decided the still wine is bottled with a mixture of sugar and yeast (liquor de tirage). It is closed with a “bottle cap”(or natural cork with a small clamp as seen in Cava and Corpinnat for hand-disgorgement) and left on its side for the second fermentation to proceed in the bottle. As the added yeast consumes the sugar (secondary fermentation) carbon dioxide is produced creating the bubbles, the dead yeast cells (lees) drop down to the bottom side of the bottle and pressure of about nine atmospheres is generated.

The finished wine will sit on the lees for a time to extract delicate “autolytic” aromas and flavors of bread, brioche and toast while developing a characteristic rich mouthfeel. The length of time spent on the lees is determined by the winemaker, preferred style and history of the house, and can range from as little as a year or so to ten or more years.

When the desired time on the lees is complete, the spent lees must be removed through riddling (remauge) – a tedious process developed by the widow (Veuve) Clicquot in the early 19th century. The lees are gently coaxed into the neck of the bottle by the Remueur’s (Riddler’s) skilled hand until disgorgement.

Patiently and over a period of 30 days or so, the riddler slowly rotates each bottle placed in a special A-framed rack by an eighth to a quarter turn per day while simultaneously lifting it a measured degree. The lees are coaxed down the side of the bottle and ultimately form a plug in the neck against the closure. In today’s “mechanized” world, this task can now also be done by a computerized and sophisticated gyro pallet that systematically performs the same task as the as the riddler, but without the tradition and romance of the hands-on experience.

When the bottle is fully inverted in the rack with the plug at the bottom, disgorgement can begin. The neck is immersed in a freezing solution and the bottle is quickly turned upright. The cap (or cork/clamp) is removed and with the pressure in the bottle the frozen yeast-plug is expelled. A dosage (a small amount of mature wine, sugar and often brandy) is added to replace the liquid lost and balance the finished wine. The cork and protective wire basket are then put in place.

In the Charmat (aka Metodo Italiano) method the still wine undergoes secondary fermentation to completion in a tank and is transferred with filtration under pressure to the bottle. There is no extended lees contact and the aromatic/flavor profile focuses on the properties of the grape and not the complexing autolytic influence experienced in Méthode Traditionelle.

Although the Charmat method is widely used by Italy’s Prosecco producers with the Glera and Pinot Nero varieties, those in the country’s northerly Lombardy region (stretching from the northern shores of the Mediterranean to the peaks of the Swiss Alps) rely on Méthode Traditionelle and often use the Champagne varieties of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for their sparklers as seen with Franciacorta and others.

Pétillant Naturel (or simply Pét-Nat as it is known in today’s market) is a relatively new category and has gained ardent followers over the last decade or so in the U.S. Even though it is a relative newcomer to the current market its history stretches to pre-Méthode Champenoise days and so far back, that no one truly knows when it was first recognized. It is also known as Méthode Ancestrale as it may truly be the ancestor to all sparkling wines.

Modern production in this method looks somewhat like a cross between Méthode Traditionelle and Charmat. Like Charmat, the secondary fermentation begins in tank with the addition of sugar and yeast. As the fermentation continues, the winemaker makes the timely decision to transfer the fermenting wine along with the lees, sugar and active yeast to bottle without filtration.

The secondary fermentation (to produce the bubbles) that began in the tank continues in the bottle to completion. However, there is no riddling or disgorgement with Pét-Nat, so the finished wine will be a bit cloudy from the suspended lees. Beware of any Pét-Nats you may see that are crystal clear. Chances are they are not true to the method or classification.

At the extreme lower end of the sparkling wine market, we have those that are simply a carbonated still wine. While in tank, the still wine is carbonated by injection of carbon dioxide and bottled under pressure – not much different than soda-pop or sparkling water. The flavors are simple and the bubbles are much larger. These wines may be better for the launching of a ship or sprayed around the locker room of the Super Bowl champs than accompanying a festive meal.

Fine sparkling wine is not only for holiday and special occasions as is often assumed. Yes, it’s hard to imagine a New Year’s celebration or wedding without the sparking accent. But be sure to enjoy a glass or two anytime alongside your favorite dish to heighten the vinous experience.

The world of sparkling wine is complex indeed, featuring a multitude of classic and indigenous varieties, production modalities and flavors that range from bone dry to sweet. The adventure awaits the curious wine enthusiast and I encourage the search.