These are my first bottles of Sparkling Wine that i have disgorged.
Disgorging
The lees removal process is called disgorging (
dégorgement in
French), a skilled manual process where the crown cap and lees are
removed without losing much of the liquid, and a varying amount of sugar
added. Before the invention of this process by
Madame Clicquot in 1816, Champagne was cloudy; this style is seen occasionally today, under the label
méthode ancestrale.
Modern automated disgorgement is done by freezing a small amount of the
liquid in the neck and removing this plug of ice containing the lees.
Dosage
Immediately after disgorging but before final corking, the liquid level is topped up with
liqueur d'expédition, commonly a little sugar, a practice known as
dosage. The amount of sugar in the
liqueur d'expédition determines the
sweetness of the Champagne, the sugar previously in the wine having been
consumed in the second fermentation. Generally, sugar is added to
balance the high acidity of the Champagne, rather than to produce a
sweet taste. Brut Champagne will only have a little sugar added, and
Champagne called
nature or
zéro dosage will have no sugar added at all. A cork is then inserted, with a capsule and wire cage securing it in place.
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