Sparkling Wine

OUR SPARKLERS

The only difference between a still wine and a sparkling wine is the presence of carbon dioxide in the liquid, which causes the wine to effervesce when poured into a glass. There are four ways in which carbon dioxide can be introduced into a still wine:

Traditional Method
Tank Method
Transfer Method
Injection Method
The first three use natural fermentation to create the carbon dioxide in the wine. The fourth method injects the gas from an external source.

Traditional Method
The Traditional Method is only allowed to be known as Méthode Champenoise in Champagne. Other identically produced wines in the European Community must be described as Traditional Method and, in the case of Spain, Cava.  A second fermentation is encouraged by adding yeast and a little sweet wine to an already fermented dry white wine, which is then bottled. The second fermentation occurs in the bottle leaving a sediment, which is subsequently removed. The sweetness of the new sparkling wine is then fine-tuned and the bottled finally corked.

Tank Method
This method is also known as Cuve Close or by the eponymous name Charmat. Cuve Close actually means closed tank, and that the processs we have learned for Traditional Method is merely repeated but in bulk, until it is finally, filtered, bottled and corked. The Tank Method is faster and more economic for obvious reasons.

Transfer Method
This is known as Transvassement. It can be described as a compromise between the Traditional Method and the Tank Method. The second fermentation occurs in bottles and, once completed, the bottles are disgorged into a single pressurized tank. The sediment is then filtered out and the wine re-bottled whilst still under pressure. This method maintains good sparkle and is employed for many of the sparkling wines made in Germany and the United States.

Injection Method
Here the carbon dioxide is forced into still, chilled wine under pressure. It is a cheap, fast method of putting effervescence into still wine. The resultant bubbles are large and the sparkle tends to fade almost as soon as the wine is poured.