Ep. 1081 Map 38 Traditional Sparkling Wine Method | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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We're gonna look at sparkly wines, but a little bit more in-depth on the traditional method. So we know that there's three main methods for making spark wires. And this is a really important part of your WCT three short answers. There will be a question on sparkling wines of the world. So the three main methods for making sparkling wines are tank, fermentation in bottle and carbonation. So the traditional or champagne method is one of the most important because this is the one that's used for making sparkling wines like champagne, carver, and other wines made around the world in the same method as they do in champagne. So what are the main differences? Well, in the traditional or champagne method, all of the grapes are handpicked. They're not disdamed or crushed to ensure clear and colored juice. The pressing is very gentle and it's pressed as quickly as possible, and the press that they use is called a cock eyed press. And what that makes sure is that there are no tannins. So it's a very gentle pressing. Fact, in champagne, it's a hundred and two liters of wine from a hundred and sixty kilos of grapes. The first eighty two liters is called the couve, and the remaining twenty liters is called the tie, and the best champagne is made solely from the couve. The first fermentation, couve, and the tie are fermented separately. So they'll basically make wine, and then they'll store those wines in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. Some producers still use oak and barrels. The juice is clarified by sedimentation, which minimizes the development of savory non fruit flavors. Now the base wine has gotta be completely dry, and it's very, very neutral. So they want neutral flavors high acid and lower alcohols, so moderate alcohols. Most wines undergo malolactic fermentation, but there are exceptions, and most base wines are used in the year that they're picked, but some are stored in inert containers for future years. And these are called reserve wines, and that's really important for the blending, which is one of the techniques of making a very consistent wine in Champagne. So blending gives you a consistent style. And the best way to do this is to blend years, villages, and vintages and that makes it much easier to achieve a house style. So different varieties give structure, and the reserve wines smooth out the bumps and give richness to a blend. It's why the markets dominated by houses. They have the means to blend from up to seventy different wines have access to more base in reserve wines than others. There are basically one of five methods used to produce a sparkling wine in European wine regions, and the choice of method may be determined by local laws outside of your it's going to be informed by the style or quality of the wine that the wine maker wants to make or the costs involved. So when you see traditional method or method champion was, it tells us that the wine has undergone a second fermentation in the bottle in which it is later sold. It's the technique most often used to make premium sparkling wines. It's costly, it's time consuming, but the wines that it makes can also command the highest pricing. So after harvesting and pressing, the principal steps of the traditional method are Making that base wine. So that really dry wine, that's quite neutral and has higher acidity. Now the one maker is going to decide based on the style of wine, whether that wine's going to undergo malolactic fermentation or whether it'll be matured in oak before the second alcoholic fermentation. Then the blending, is important because we know it helps to make the house style and blending wines from different vineyards, great varieties and vintages can help to achieve the house style year on year despite vintage variation. Blending can also be used to improve the balance for wine. For example, chardonnay, brings citrus fruit, finesse, and longevity to a blend, whereas pin and wire brings aromas and flavors of red fruit and more body. Certainly blending can enhance the complexity of the wine. So old reserve wines can bring flavors of dried fruit to the fresh flavors of the young wine. Likewise, some producers may choose to blend in wines that have been mature in oak because they want to bring in a broader texture and spicy flavors. So we'll blend as neat as many wines as possible at their disposal. So for this reason grapes are often fermented in many different small parcels, giving multiple blend options. Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp. For fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local food, and taking in the scenery. Now, back to the show. Now the second fermentation, so once the blend is made up, a small portion of liqueur de Terrage, which is wine, sugar, and yeast nutrients, along with a clarifying agent, is added to the bottle and it's closed with a crown cap. The bottles are then stacked horizontally in the producer's sellers at a cool constant temperature. The fermentation is really slow and the alcohol is raised and the alcohol is raised by one point two to one point three ABV. The carbon dioxide that's generated by the yeast dissolves into the wine and that creates the sparkle. It also creates a pressure in the bottle equivalent to five to six atmospheres, which is about a truck tire's pressure. So once that, second alcoholic fermentation is complete. The yeast dye, they form a sediment of leaves in the bottle. So over a period of months, these dead yeast still start to break down, and they release chemical compounds into the wine in a process called yeast otolysis. And that's very often been a question in WCT level three. These compounds contribute to the flavor of the wine. They give biscuity, bread y, and toasty notes, and this is autolysis notes. And it usually lasts for between four and five years, but it can continue as long as ten years. Wines that spend longer on their lees, normally have a more pronounced yeast character, and very often a smaller bubble finer bead. Keeping the wine in contact with the lees can maintain the wine's freshness for years. So after the maturation, the lee sediment is removed, and they use the two processes of riddling and discouragement. So riddling moves the sediment into the neck of the bottle and moves the bottle very slowly from a horizontal to an inverted vertical position. And the yeast sediment is dislodged and gradually slides down the side of the bottle and collects in the plastic cup that's inserted in the crown cap. So traditionally, this was done by hand. And very often after thirty years of doing this by hand, those riddlers had a, carved named after them. This is really, really labor intensive and can take up to eight weeks to complete, but nowadays riddling is usually mechanized in a Jiro palette And that's a cage that can hold up to five hundred bottles on a hydraulic arm, and it simulates handwritten, but completes the job in a matter of days, around eight days for a zero pallet. Then the wine is discorged. Which means the neck is submerged in a brine solution, and that freezes the one in the neck, the crown seal is removed, and that plug pops out and takes the yeast with it. Then it's topped up with a liqueur de spadition, which is cane sugar and wine, sealed with a cork and a mousselay, and the reason that they would put that cane sugar and wine, the liqueur'd expedition into the wine is to balance the acidity. The vast majority of sparkling wines made by any method are usually sealed with a cork. In its original shape, a sparkling wine cork is a cylinder with an area on its round face about three times out of the opening of the bottle, and that mushroom shape comes about after caulking. So in order to maintain a perfect seal, the cork has to be compressed considerably before it can be inserted into the neck of the bottle. So even with this degree of compression, the muesli or the wire cage is added for complete security. Most traditional method winds are ready to drink when they're released. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy, offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. Visit our website at Italian wine academy dot org for more information and sign up today to start your personal adventure in Global Wine Education right here in the heart of Verona. Remember to subscribe and like if Italian wine podcast and catch us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. 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