Dear Dr. Vinny,
What is disgorgement, and why is it important for making sparkling wine?
—Andy, Newark, N.J.
Dear Andy,
In the méthode traditionnelle, or “traditional method” of making sparkling wines, many different steps are required to produce each and every bottle. For an in-depth look at the whole process, check out our guide to how Champagne is made!
First, a regular, still wine is made by fermenting the sugar in the grapes into alcohol. Then winemakers take this base wine and add more sugar and yeast to each bottle to trigger a secondary fermentation. The carbon dioxide produced during that secondary fermentation is responsible for the bubbles that make sparkling wine so magical.
It’s difficult to picture unless you’ve been at a winery that practices this method, but the secondary fermentation takes place in each individual bottle. That fermentation process creates sediment called lees, primarily dead yeast cells that will fall out of suspension and make the wine cloudy. Most people prefer their bubbly wines to be crystal clear. That’s where disgorgement comes in.
A labor-intensive process now begins. First is riddling, the name of the long process of rotating the bottles (either by hand or with a machine) over time to get all of that yeast to settle into the neck of the bottle, which makes it easier to remove. At this point, the bottles are typically topped with a crown cap (like what’s on a beer bottle). By the time this process is done, the bottle moves in stages until it’s entirely inverted. The plug of solids will then be in the neck of the bottle for easy removal.
Disgorgement (or dégorgement) is the process of removing that plug. Typically, those inverted bottles are put into an ice-cold brine solution that freezes the yeast plug in the neck of the bottle. The crown caps are then quickly popped off. (There is pressure in the bottles, so this can make a loud popping noise.) The frozen yeast plug shoots out, and then the next step is the addition of the dosage, a mixture of wine and sometimes sugar that’s added to top off the bottle. Dosage helps determine the sweetness level (brut, extra brut and so on) of the finished wine. Finally, the bottles are sealed again, this time with a cork.
Some winemakers might decide to leave the wine with the yeast in the bottle for a while—sometimes many years—to let the flavors develop. In Champagne, it’s required that the wine age on its lees for at least 12 months. Disgorgement signifies that the wine, pending additional bottle age, is finished, and some winemakers will print that date on the bottle.
—Dr. Vinny
