Champagne making
The racking of the must
When the pressing is finished, the must is more or less left twelve hours in the racking tanks, which allows him to clear up. The deposit is eliminated by transferring the juice in other tanks.
The first alcoholic fermentation
It takes place immediately after the grape harvests: this one is triggered by the yeasts, which are going to transform the sugar into alcohol.
The racking
It consists in separating the clear wine from the lees. Then, these are put aside to be sent to the distillery.
The blending
It consists in blending several years’ wines and different grape-varieties.
The bottling
We add sugar and active yeasts to trigger a second fermentation in bottle. These being hermetically closed by a capsule, the carbon dioxide mixes with the wine and leads to the appearance of bubbles (in French : “prise de mousse”).
Then, the bottles are stored on laths (horizontal) in the cellar for some years.
The disgorging
It consists in eliminating the deposit provoked by the alcoholic fermentation in bottle.
We add a proper sweetening dosage to obtain very-dry or semi-dry champagne…
The cork as well as the muzzle remain to put.
The labelling
Thanks to a special machine, the adhesive labels are stuck in a precise way on the bottle.
So, it’s the last stage before the marketing.
