Champagne Production Process

1. Champagne Production
Fermentation Technology
PrathameshS. Sawant
120BT0820

2. Champagne
Champagne is the ultimate celebratory drink. It is used to toast
newlyweds, applaud achievements, and acknowledge milestones. A
large part of its appeal is due to the bubbles that spill forth when the
bottle is uncorked. Champagne originates from the Champagne
region of France. This region has been known to produce wine even
before medieval times, although they have not always been the
sparkling variety that the area is known for today. Early Champagne
wines were more acidic, had less sugar content, and had a much
lighter body than Burgundy wines. Today, fine champagne is
considered a mark of sophistication. But this was
not always so.
Champagne, the wine, is named after the region where it is grown, fermented, and bottled: Champagne, France. Nestled in the
country’s northeastern corner, near Paris, the only labels that are legally allowed to bare the name “Champagne” are bottled
within 100 miles of this region (according to European Law). Outside of the Champagne region, French sparkling wine is known
as Crémant.
In addition to location, Champagne also receives its distinguished name because of the grapes used to produce it (and the distinct
flavors that result from grapes grown in Champagne’s cooler climate and chalky, mineral-rich soils)
Sparkling winemaking in Champagne dates to the 1700s, and today, vineyards span 84,000 acres throughout the hillsides and
plains of its five main growing regions: Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne, and The
Aube.

3. Production Process
Champagne is the fruit of a long and complex production method. Most of the bottles of champagne represents at least 15
months of preparation ' or 3 years for millésime champagnes. Producers of Champagne must follow a specific traditional method
when making Champagne, known as the method Champenoise. That is, in order for a wine to be labeled as Champagne, it must be
produced using this method. In addition to the specific wine making method, there are only seven specific grape varieties that can
be used in the production of Champagne. The most common grapes used in Champagne production are –
• Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir
• Pinot Meunier
The champagne production process namely consists of the following steps –
• Growing and Harvesting Grapes
• Pressing
• First Fermentation
• Blending
• Second Fermentation
• Ageing
• Riddling
• Disgorgement
• Corking

6. Harvesting
Harvest for the champagne generally occurs around mid October.
Although 7 varieties are permitted, the mostly widely used are Pinot
Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay. Gnerally, the Pinot Meunier is the first
one to be harvested followed by Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Grapes will
be hand harvested in order to ensure that the grapes are brought in clean
and undamaged.
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

7. Pressing
Grapes are weighed and recorded as soon as they arrive at the pressing
center. Each 'marc' (traditional unit of measurement representing 4,000
kg of grapes) is recorded ina pressing logbook, noting details of the cru
and grape variety. To make wine, grapes typically need to be pressed to
extract the juice from the grape skins. The amount of pressure used to
get the juice out of the skins can have a big impact on the quality and
flavor of the resulting grape juice. For this reason, there are regulations
about exactly how the grapes can be pressed and
how much juice can be extracted for use in Champagne wines.
Grapes will be pressed as soon as possible, especially with Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, as skin contact with these dark skinned
varietals will soon begin to taint the juice if left on the skins.
Pressing is done in pressing centres with champagne presses ranging in capacity from 2000 to 12000 kilos of whole grapes.
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

8. Five different kind of wine-press are used in Champagne region:
•The traditional vertical wine press (before 1950)
Load capacity : 2000-4000 kg
Manual maintenance
Producer : Coquard, Darc, Dol-lat et Marmonier
•The mechanical horizontal wine press (1950)
Manual intervention limited
Load capacity : 2000-12000 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 : 2000-12000 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 : 2000-8000 kg
Entirely automatic
Still expensive
Producer : Coquard

9. First Fermentation
The first fermentation (or primary fermentation) is the process of
making still white wine (also called the base wine, or vin clair). This
part of the winemaking process is basically the same as making any
other regular non-sparkling wine. The primary fermentation typically
takes one to two weeks to complete. Yeast plays an important role in
the winemaking process because it will consume the sugar from the
grape juice and lead to the production of alcohol in this process
known as fermentation.
This fermentation occurs in stainless steel containers or barrels as shown
in the attached image.
Addition 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

10. Blending
Blending is an essential step in champagne making
as it gives each wine its distinctive character. The
head wine waiter blends different wines in order to
create a cuvee presenting specific characteristics.
based notably on the spirit of the Champagne House
producing the wine. They taste the resulting base
wines and then blend them together in the right ratio
to achieve the balanced flavor profile that they are
aiming for.
After blending, cold stabilization aims to achieve the perfect stabilization of the champagne. Clarification then leaves the wine
completely clear by removing any particles suspended in the blend.

11. Second
Fermentation
Once a blend has been created, a mixture of still
wine, sugar and yeast will be added to the blended
wine. The wine is then bottled with a crown cap
(think beer) and left to begin a secondary
fermentation in the bottle. Here, active yeast will
begin consuming the available sugar, resulting in
the anaerobic production of alcohol within this
sealed bottle. A by-product of this fermentation is
carbon dioxide, which if not allowed to escape into
the atmosphere, results C02 which is dissolved into
the wine a.k.a., bubbles! This second
fermentation generally takes between 4-8 weeks. This second fermentation is called the malolactic fermentation
(COOH)² - CH2 - CHOH --------> CO2 + CH3 - CHOH – COOH

12. Ageing
Following the completion of the secondary fermentation,
the wine will then begin a period of ageing. Once the
yeast runs out of sugar, it dies and these dead yeast cells
settle as sediment in the wine bottle. This sediment is
called the lees which will interact with the wine in the
bottle and which will greatly influence the flavor and
texture of the finished champagne.
This process is known as “autolysis”. Flavor
characteristics relative to this bio-chemical process
include nuances of baked bread, roasted nuts, and salty
cheese. Chardonnay in particular is a varietal that
benefits greatly from this lengthy autolytic ageing process. By law, non-vintage Champagne must age a minimum of 15 months
on their lees, although most age between 18-24 months. Vintage Champagne is often aged for four to five years or more, because
a fine Champagne can continue to develop for more than 20 years.

13. Riddling
Once the champagne has completed its extended lees ageing
and is ready to be bottled it will go through a process known
as “remuage”. This procedure is aimed at loosening the dead
yeast cells and sediment that has formed at the bottom of the
bottle, and slowly moving it towards the neck of the bottle
which it will be removed or disgorged.
This process must be done methodically and over time so as
not to disrupt the champagne in bottle. Remuage can either be
done by hand, by slowly turning the bottle a bit every day till
it is vertically upside down, or done automatically by
machine. By hand the process can take 2 months, by machine
or gyro-palette the entire process can be accomplished in about 1 week.
Once the wines are positioned vertically upsided down with the yeast in the neck of the bottle the champagne is ready to be
disgorged.
Manual process : about one month
Automatic process : one week

14. 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
Riddling

15. Disgorgement
After the sediment has been concentrated in the neck of the
bottle and an appropriate amount of aging has been completed,
it’s time to remove the sediment. There are two typical ways of
achieving this.
It can be done by hand by quickly removing the cap from the
bottle and allowing the carbon dioxide pressure in the bottle to
force out the sediment (unfortunately, some wine will also come
out along with the sediment). This requires considerable skill
because you must quickly turn the bottle upright as it is opened
to avoid losing too much wine in the process.
The second method, called a la glace, involves dipping the neck of the bottle into a refrigerated ice salt bath, allowing the
liquid in the bottles neck to freeze. Typically the bottle cap has a small plastic piece inside, and the frozen mix of champagne
and sediment in the neck of the bottle freezes in direct contact with this piece. In this way, when the cap is removed the bottle
forces out the small plug of frozen wine and sediment with dead yeast cells leaving behind the clear wine.

16. Dosage
Before the champagne is re-corked, a measured
amount of champagne and cane sugar will be added
to the finished wine. This is known as the “liqueur
d’expedition”. The amount of this mixture, known as
“dosage” will in effect determine the final sweetness
level and style of champagne. In certain instances, no
liqueur d’expedition will be added, resulting in a
wine with zero dosage. Brut style champagnes are
next on the dryness level with
residual sugar falling between 5-15 grams per liter. Brut
champagnes are amongst the most popular style of
Champagne in the United States.

17. Final Bottling & Corking
Once the dosage is added, the Champagne is ready to be corked.
The Champagne cork has a distinctive mushroom shape, and is
traditionally constructed from natural cork. The cork also must be
strong enough to withstand a significant amount of force from the
pressure created by the release of carbon dioxide inside the bottle.
The cork is softened by heating, and then hammered into the bottle
to seal it. An interesting historical fact is that Champagne is the first
region in the world where cork was used to seal bottles of wine.
After inserting the cork, a wire cage called a muselet is
wrapped around the cork to help hold it in place. The cage has a metal cap on top
that protects the cork and displays the name or sometimes the logo of the producer.
Typically the process of applying the cage is fully automated using a special
machine.
Some of the prominent Champagne brands are Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon,
Veuve Clicquot, Nicolas Feuillatte, etc.

18. And Champagne is ready
for the party…..
Thank You
Cheers!!