RIDDLING
Towards the end of their long resting period, the bottles must be moved and rotated to loosen the deposit left by the second fermentation and persuade it to collect in the neck of the bottle, near the stopper. This process known as ‘remuage’ causes the sediment to slide downwards in preparation for disgorgement (the ejecting of the sediment under pressure).
For that to happen, the bottles are progressively tilted neck-down (‘sur pointe’) and rotated by small increments, clockwise and anti-clockwise. As the angle of tilt increases, the forces of gravity drive the sediment into the neck.
Remuage is still done manually in some cases. A professional ‘remueur’ (bottle turner) can handle roughly 40,000 bottles a day, placing the bottles neck down in a wooden ‘pupitre’ (A-frame-shaped riddling rack). Automated remuage is now much more common, using computer-controlled palettes that can process 500 bottles in a single operation, taking a fraction of the time (one week instead of six) at no expense to quality.
Remuage completed, the bottles are stacked neck-down (‘en masse’), ready for disgorgement.
Alain CORNU, collection CIVC
DISGORGEMENT
The purpose of disgorgement is to eject the sediment that has collected in the neck of the bottle during remuage.
Bottles with metal caps are generally disgorged by machine. The neck of the bottle is plunged into a refrigerating solution at approximately – 27°C, then the cap is briefly removed, expelling the frozen plug of sediment with minimum loss of wine and pressure. Removing the cap triggers a short, sharp intake of air that will have a significant impact on aroma development.
Large bottles and certain particular cuvées are still disgorged by hand (‘à la volée’), holding the bottle neck down, opening it and then quickly tilting it back upwards so that only enough wine is forced out to take the sediment with it.
DOSAGE
‘Dosage’ is the addition of a small quantity of ‘liqueur de dosage’, also known as the ‘liqueur d’expédition’. Dosage liqueur is a mixture of cane sugar and wine, either the same wine as the bottle holds or a reserve wine – it all depends on the style of Champagne that the winemaker has in mind. Reserve wines, set aside in casks, barrels or even magnums, add an extra dimension to the winemaker’s repertory of flavours.
Dosage liqueur generally contains 500-750 grams of sugar per litre. The quantity of dosage liqueur, and therefore sugar content in the finished wine, varies according to the style of Champagne:
• Doux more than 50 grams of sugar per litre
• Demi-sec 32-50 grams of sugar per litre
• Sec 17-32 grams of sugar per litre
• Extra dry 12-17 grams of sugar per litre
• Brut less than 12 grams of sugar per litre
• Extra brut less than 6 grams of sugar per litre
• Brut nature, pas dosé or dosage zéro less than 3 grams of sugar per litre and no added sugar