Harvester Bar Bible - Update 04/2023

Wines of the World

Bottle Fermentation This is also often referred to as the ‘Traditional’ method and the most famous example of this is Champagne .

Secondary fermentation happens in the tanks

The bottle of sparkling wine is corked and sealed, ready for serve!

The base wine is often a blend of many wines

The wine cools and clarifies in the tanks

A 'dosage' is added which determines sweetness

Sugar & yeast are added

Unlike the ‘Tank’ method the ‘base wine’ (1) is put into the final bottle straight away. Into this bottle the winemaker then adds the mixture of yeast and sugar (2) and then seals the bottle with a crown cap (like you find on beer). It is inside the bottle that the second fermentation (3) happens. As with the tank method the bottles are air tight so the carbon dioxide cannot escape but unlike the tank the bottle is so much smaller so the pressure built up by the carbon dioxide is much greater and as a result the bubbles formed are much smaller – this is why the bubbles from a bottle fermented sparkling wine will generally last a lot longer than those from a sparkling wine made in the tank method. Once the yeast has eaten all of the sugar it dies and settles on the base of the bottle. As the dead yeast cells (known as the ‘lees’) break down they release extra flavour into the sparkling wine – you often hear people using words like ‘bready’ or biscuity’ – this is the flavour from the yeast. The amount of time the ‘lees’ stay in the bottle depends on the style of wine being made and the laws that govern the production of those wines. The bottles are turned and rotated, known as ‘riddling’, until the bottle is facing down (4) and the yeast collects in the neck of the bottle. The yeast is then frozen and extracted from the bottle (5). The winemaker will then top up the bottle with some more wine and sugar (6) which determines how sweet the sparkling wine will be – a Brut wine is dry whilst a Sec wine is sweet. Finally, the cork and cage is put on the bottle and it is ready to be sold (7).