Concept card Method
The traditional method
In one sentence
Making a wine sparkle through a second fermentation inside the very bottle it will be sold in: the gas, trapped, dissolves into the wine.
From still wine to bubbles
Base wine and blending
A still wine, high in acid and low in alcohol; usually several wines make up the cuvée.
Tirage
Bottled with the liqueur de tirage (wine, sugar, yeast), under a crown cap.
Prise de mousse
The yeasts make alcohol and gas; trapped, the gas dissolves in the wine.
Lees and riddling
The wine ages on its lees, then the deposit is worked into the neck.
Disgorgement and dosage
The deposit is expelled; the liqueur d'expédition tops up the bottle.
Key points
- The gas forms in the bottle that is sold: that is what sets this method apart from the tank method.
- The liqueur de tirage (wine, sugar, yeast) supplies what the second fermentation needs.
- In Champagne: at least 12 months on the lees, and at least 15 months from tirage to release.
- The liqueur d'expédition (wine with or without added sugar) sets the sugar level behind the label: brut nature, brut…
What it changes in the glass
- On the lees, yeast autolysis brings a creamy texture and notes of brioche or toast.
- A brut nature shows the base wine's acidity; a demi-sec hides part of it under sugar.
Not to be confused with…
The tank method
The second fermentation takes place in a large sealed tank; the wine, already sparkling, is then bottled under pressure.
The ancestral method
No liqueur de tirage: the fermentation simply resumes in bottle.
A bottle is disgorged while riddling has left part of the deposit stuck along the glass. What is the main risk?
One question to test yourself: it does not count towards your progress.
A base wine built to ferment again
It all starts with a still wine, white or rosé, made like a white: direct pressing, settling, a cool fermentation. It is kept high in acid and low in alcohol, because the second fermentation will add strength.
- In Champagne it comes mainly from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, picked early to keep the acidity bright.
- Blending usually brings together wines from different plots and grapes and, for a non-vintage cuvée, from several harvests, for a consistent style.
Tirage and the second fermentation
In a cool cellar, the yeast in the liqueur de tirage eats its sugar and makes alcohol and carbon dioxide. The gas cannot escape the capped bottle, so it dissolves into the wine under pressure.
- Too little sugar and yeast in the liqueur: not enough pressure.
- Too much sugar and yeast: excess pressure that can burst bottles in the cellar.
Champagne's minimum times
12 months
on the lees at least: in Champagne, no disgorging before then
15 months
at least from tirage to release for a Champagne
36 months
at least from tirage to release, for a vintage Champagne
- On the lees, yeast autolysis releases compounds that give a creamy texture and notes of brioche, toast or dried fruit.
- These times apply to Champagne only: the crémants and other appellations set their own.
Riddling and disgorgement
- Riddling tilts and turns the upside-down bottle to bring the deposit into the neck: by hand on wooden racks, over roughly six to eight weeks.
- Gyropalettes do the same job in a few days.
- Disgorgement expels the deposit, usually after freezing the neck, so as to lose as little wine as possible.
- The bottle then gets its final cork and wire cage.
The sweetness terms
The label term depends on the sugar content, in grams per litre, under EU rules for sparkling wines.
- Brut nature: under 3, with no sugar added after the second fermentation.
- Extra brut: 0 to 6; brut: under 12.
- Extra dry: 12 to 17; sec: 17 to 32; demi-sec: 32 to 50; doux: over 50.
To learn it in depth
Related reading
Sources (6)
- Official sourceRèglement délégué (UE) 2019/33 de la Commission (AOP, IGP, mentions traditionnelles, étiquetage et présentation des vins) — version consolidée du 18.01.2025— Union européenne — EUR-Lex (Office des publications)
- Official sourceCahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée « Champagne »— Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO)
- Trade bodyL'élaboration du Champagne — étape par étape— Comité Champagne (Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, CIVC)
- Reference bookHandbook of Enology, Volume 1: The Microbiology of Wine and Vinifications— Wiley
- Trade bodyLe dosage — catégories de Champagne— Comité Champagne (Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, CIVC)
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press