How to decode sparkling wine labels.

How to decode sparkling wine labels.
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The language of sparkling wine

Sparkling wines come with their very own language. Here we decode the terms you'll find time and again on labels so you can find the wines you like to drink.

Wine sparkles when carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the wine escapes – bubble by tiny bubble. Carbon dioxide gets into the wine via a second fermentation which either happens in a tank or in a bottle. If it happens in tank, it is called Charmat method, if it happens in bottle, it is called traditional method. This means that grapes are fermented and made into a still base wine, yeast and just the right amount of sugar are added to it, and the still base wine then undergoes a second fermentation to become a sparkling wine. The yeast ferments the sugar into alcohol and the carbon dioxide also produced during fermentation is trapped in the sealed bottle or tank and makes the wine sparkle. Another important element is time and interaction with the spent yeast: the finest sparkling wines age for years to emerge with the finest mousse and the most complex yet fresh flavours.

Traditional Method

This is when the second fermentation happens in bottle: a base wine is filled into a bottle, yeast and just the right amount of sugar are added and the bottle is sealed so that once the wine begins its second fermentation, the carbon dioxide is trapped in the bottle. Once the fermentation has finished, the spent yeast, or lees, stay in the bottle for at least nine months. To remove the lees, the bottles are put into racks where they are slowly turned round and upright during a process called remuage, or riddling, so the lees collect in the neck of the bottle. Today this mostly happens mechanically in a gyropalette. The bottle neck is then frozen and in a very fast, automated process, the bottle is opened and the frozen yeast plug expelled under the pressure within the bottle. The bottle is then topped up with the same base wine and it is at this point that the final dosage is added, and the bottle is sealed with a cork and a wire cage. The process of removing the yeast, opening and topping up the bottle is called degorgement or disgorgement. Bottle fermentation, or the traditional method, results in the finest sparkling wines. Many sparkling wine appellations like Champagne or Cava stipulate bottle fermentation. If a wine is bottle-fermented, it will usually say so on the label, in various languages: méthode traditionelle, método tradicional, metodo classico, Flaschengärung – sometimes this is still referred to as Méthode Champenoise but this term was banned in 1985 in the EU to protect the name of Champagne.

Autolysis

This is the key to the flavours of traditional method sparkling wines and the secret behind the fine texture of long-aged sparkling wines. Once the added yeasts have consumed the added sugar to create some extra alcohol and the all-important carbon dioxide, the spent yeast cells, called lees, remain in the bottle or the tank and begin their interaction with the wine. The slow process of their enzymatic breakdown and the contact with the wine creates unique flavours but only over time. That is why European law mandates a minimum of nine months of lees ageing for bottle-fermented sparkling wines. However, the best sparkling wines stay on their lees for much longer, some up to a decade or more, and this creates profound flavours of brioche, shortcrust pastry and other fine bakery, biscuit, rye bread or oatmeal. Long autolysis also creates the finest, tiniest, creamiest and most elegant bubbles, which are often referred to as mousse, or foam.

Charmat Method

This is when the second fermentation that gives the wine the bubbles takes place in tank rather than in bottle. The carbon dioxide is trapped in the sealed tank, the wine is filtered off the yeast and bottled under pressure. This, for instance, is how Prosecco is made. This method is ideal for sparkling wines whose primary fruit flavours are to be preserved and whose character is not too influenced by autolysis. This method is far more efficient and therefore cheaper than bottle fermentation which explains why bottle-fermented wines are almost always more expensive than tank-fermented wines.

Vintage, Non-Vintage and Multi-Vintage

You will often see NV on a sparkling wine label, this stands for non-vintage and means that the base wine that was fermented in the bottle was a blend of several vintages. Blending across vintages allows the winemakers to create a consistent house style. It also allows the addition of so-called reserve wines, wines from previous vintages that have been aged before being blended into the base wine, adding depth and nuance to the blend. In fact, blending is considered an art in sparkling winemaking. This is why the term multi-vintage has been coined – as some people find that the term non-vintage sounds negative. In this case you might see MV on the label. If there is a vintage on the label, then the base wines are from just that year. The aim of a vintage wine is to express the character of that particular year. Usually, Champagne houses would only make vintage wines in exceptional years. Climate change means that this is now a more frequent occurrence. The term vintage can appear in several languages: vintage, millésime, millesimato, añada, Jahrgang.

Blanc de Blancs 

A wine made from white grapes only. This means any white-skinned grape, but in Champagne, and most other regions that produce traditional-method sparkling wines, this has come to mean a wine made from 100 percent Chardonnay. Why is this even pointed out? Because it gives you a clue to the style of the wine. Blanc de Blancs made from Chardonnay usually have that grape’s sleekness, expression and class. Long-aged vintage wines are richer but still have inherent elegance.

Blanc de Noirs

A wine made from red grapes only. Red wine only gets its red colour from being fermented with its grape skins which hold the colour. Pressing red grapes, like Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in Champagne, without macerating them on their skins results in white grape juice that is then fermented into white wine. Blanc de Noirs wines tend to have more body and weight, expressing the structure of Pinot Noir and the fruit of Pinot Meunier.

Rosé

A sparkling wine that has a pink colour – this can happen in two different ways: the wine either is a rosé d’assemblage, where a red wine has been added to white base wine to colour it pink, or a rosé saignée, where red-skinned grapes were crushed and macerated just enough to result in pale coloured base wine. The distinction is one of style rather than quality: since saignée rosés are usually made from 100 percent Pinot Noir, they come with generosity and fuller fruit expression, where as Chardonnay-based rosés that just have a tinge of pink, retain the citric sleekness of the white grape – but these are two poles – there is every style in between.

Prestige Cuvée

These are the top wines of the sparkling wine world. They are distinguished by being blended from only the most stringently selected base wines: from across exceptional sites or even single vineyards, from exceptional reserve wines and the most age-worthy base wines. Stringent selection is key and means that these prestige cuvées are usually made in limited quantities only – which adds to their appeal and explains their price. They are usually aged for extended periods and are sparkling wines that also benefit from post-disgorgement ageing.

Anne Krebiehl MW
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