Champagne making process Benjamin Cochain

Introduction Dom Perignon  wines refermented during spring  birth of Champagne Champagne is the most northerly of the major wine growing regions in France, and is one of the oldest vineyards in Europe. The trade name Champagne can only be used for sparkling wines produced in this region

The Champagne making process Harvesting To obtain the name Champagne, the grapes must be harvest manually and the harvesting must be done in one time to insure the homogeneity of the juice White and black grapes  champagne White  Blancs de blanc Champagne Red and White  pink and red Champagne Black and white grapes  grow in separate vineyards throughout the champagne region

The Champagne making process Pressing Each specific grape  pressured independently  extraction of juice (rape) Appellation Champagne  grapes must be unbroken and entire Specific criteria of the champagne production wine press : The loading must be easy, fast and with a short fall of the grapes The area of pressuring must be large The juice must be extracted at 90° from the pressure axe to grant rape auto filtration Limited productivity : 102 l of rape for 160 kg of pressured grapes

The Champagne making process Five different kind of wine-press are used in Champagne region: The traditional vertical wine press (before 1950) Load capacity : kg Manual maintenance Producer : Coquard, Darc, Dol-lat et Marmonier The mechanical horizontal wine press (1950) Manual intervention limited Load capacity : kg The pneumatic horizontal wine press (1950) Load capacity : 6000 kg Use pneumatic energy The pneumatic horizontal wine press with lateral membrane Use very easy Load capacity : kg One of the most used in Champagne production Producer : Bücher, Diemme, Jouglet, Mazancourt, Péra, Siprem et Willmes The hydraulic horizontal wine press (1985) Load capacity : kg Entirely automatic Still expensive Producer : Coquard

The Champagne making process First Fermentation Before fermentation  control of the acidity of the grapes juice  insure a good ageing process Fermentation in stainless steel cylinders or barrels Add of yeast to the grapes juice  fermentation The yeast feeds on the sugar in the grape juice and releases alcohol (as ethanol), heat and carbon dioxide C6 H12 O6 + yeast > 2 C2 H5 OH + 2 CO2 + Q Chemical change during fermentation : sugar = glucose (C6H12O6 ); converted in pyruvate pyruvate converted in alcohol by yeast

The Champagne making process Blending From each of the fermented batches of wine a small sample is taken and tasted by the wine makers. The selected samples are then taken and combined to give a final master blend, which is called the cuvée Very difficult process  wine makers must predict the final flavour Remaining blocks of wine not used in blending  auctioned off to other vineyards.

The Champagne making process Bottling, Second Fermentation and Ageing This second fermentation is called the malolactic fermentation: (COOH)² - CH2 - CHOH > CO2 + CH3 - CHOH – COOH Wine  bottled and capped With the yeast :increases level of alcohol add CO 2 = bubbles Process = about four to eight weeks The yeast must now remain in the bottle for at least a year to allow the champagne to age The alcohol content of the wine is limited because at a certain concentration the yeast becomes "drunk" and can no longer ferment

The Champagne making process Riddling Aged wine  task of removing the yeast from the bottle Bottles placed at 45° on automatic or manual turning rack Bottles periodically rotated Yeast fall down the cap of the bottle Manual process : about one month Automatic process : one week

The Champagne making process Riddling In the Champagne region, four machines are principally used to riddle: The Champarex : Capacity = 183 or 381 bottles Hexagonal metallic container Manual rotation of the container The Pupimatic The Rotopal : Capacity = 297 bottles Metallic container Manual rotation of the container The Gyro : Capacity = 504 bottles Automatic rotation Very short cycle of riddling

The Champagne making process Disgorging After riddling the yeast is ready to be removed Manual process (old but still used) : CO2 bubble in the neck of the bottle  claw to remove the metallic capsule The yeast was also expulsed with the gas Automatic process : Tops of the bottles frozen  disgorging machine removes the cap  yeast ice plug

The Champagne making process Dosage Obtain with add of sugar and sulfur compounds : cuvée non-dosée, brut, extra sec, sec, demi-sec or doux Corking, “dressing”and selling Corking similar to brewery corking Dressing and selling  specific for each producer

Thank you for your attention