How is Sparkling Wine Made?

The key to making a traditional sparkling wine is to start with a still wine as the base material. So, essentially, you are starting with a grape-based liquid that has already been through the fermentation process once. The base wine needs to be a blend made in the white wine way, meaning that all of the skins were pressed and removed before the grape juice went through the first fermentation.

Now, this is the bit where the fizz happens! The still base wine is fermented a second time in a way that traps the carbon dioxide in the liquid, stopping it from escaping so that it dissolves into the wine and forms tiny bubbles. The ‘Traditional Method’ for doing this (used for Champagne, Crémant and Cava) is adding yeast to the bottle of wine just before sealing it, meaning that the second fermentation triggered by the yeast happens inside the airtight bottle. Alternatively, some winemakers opt to use the ‘Tank Method’ (used for Prosecco, Sekt and many New World sparkling wines), where the wine is tipped into a large tank and yeast is added just before the tank is made airtight, trapping the carbon dioxide.

For premium sparkling wines that had their second fermentation in a bottle, such as Champagne, a period of bottle ageing is essential. During maturation, the dead yeast cells (or ‘lees’) leftover from the second fermentation lay at the bottom of the bottle, slowly releasing flavours into the wine over time. This process is known as ‘yeast autolysis’.

After a period of ageing, it’s time to get rid of that yeast lurking around in the wine (a process known in the wine world as ‘disgorgement’) For traditional, typically Old World, sparkling wines, this is usually a long and time consuming process that involves slowly tilting and turning the bottles of wine regularly over a period of time. This can either be done by hand (‘riddling’) or by using machines called gyropalettes. Eventually all of the yeast slides to the neck of the bottle which is then frozen, creating a solid mass of yeast. The seal is removed and the carbon dioxide pressure within the bottle causes the frozen yeast to pop out. The other, quicker way of disgorging the yeast is transferring all of the wine into one big tank and filtering it out from there.

After the yeast has been removed, the sparkling wine has a small amount of sugar added to it, referred to as the ‘dosage’. The size of the sugar dosage added determines how sweet the resulting product will be. Interestingly, sparkling wine labelled ‘Brut’ will have had a dosage, but still tastes dry due to the high acidity of the grapes used in the blend.

For sparkling wines that had their second fermentation and sugar dosage in the bottle, these bottles are then resealed, ready to be stored. For wine that had its second fermentation and sugar dosage in a tank, the winemaker transfers the final blend into bottles ready for storage.

When you’re ready to crack open that bottle of bubbly and celebrate the good times, it’s always best to serve your sparkling wine chilled to around 6-8 degrees. A great way to do this is to put the bottle in an ice bucket that’s three quarters filled with equal measures of water and ice (the water is important as this is what transfers the heat from the bottle of wine into the ice, meaning the ice melts as the bottle cools).

Pop open your bottle of fizz (see How to Open Sparkling Wine for info on how to master this) and pour into flute glasses. This is the last key part to ensuring the bubbles are at their best! Flute glasses have been designed to make the fizz travel through a larger volume of wine than other wine glasses before reaching the rim, therefore intensifying the effect of the bubbles when you go to drink it. Now it’s time to make a toast and enjoy!

Did You Know?

The exception to the general rules of sparkling wine production is Asti, made in Italy. Unlike other fizzy wines, this one starts with a base material of grape juice (rather than wine) and only goes through one fermentation in total (rather than two). The bubbles in Asti are achieved by sealing the tank as fermentation is nearly complete, trapping the carbon dioxide from escaping and causing it to dissolve into the wine right at the end. This approach results in a light, gentle fizz.