Traditional method
A second fermentation in the very bottle the wine is sold in.
Bubbles from inside
Champagne must be made exclusively by a second fermentation in glass bottles and sold in the bottle where that fermentation, the prise de mousse, took place.1 At bottling a liqueur de tirage of still wine, sugar and yeast is added; the yeast eats the sugar and makes alcohol and bubbles.2
Under the OIV definition, the carbon dioxide in a sparkling wine must be entirely its own, with at least 3.5 bar of pressure at 20 °C. The second fermentation may happen in bottle or in a closed tank.3
Time on the lees
In Champagne no bottle may be disgorged before 12 months from tirage. Non-vintage wines need at least 15 months from tirage, vintage wines 36.1 In practice non-vintage wines usually spend two to three years, vintages four to ten; meanwhile the dead yeast breaks down, a process called autolysis.4
Riddling and disgorgement
Riddling moves the sediment into the neck. By hand it takes four to six weeks and about 25 turns per bottle; machines do it in about a week.5 At disgorgement the neck is plunged into a solution at about −27 °C, the sediment freezes into a plug, and the pressure inside pushes it out.6
Dosage
Finally a liqueur de dosage of cane sugar in wine sets the style.7
Regions
Sources
- Modifications du cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » (draft approved by INAO national committee, 11 Sept 2024). INAO, 2024. level 1 · checked 2026-10-13
- Bottling and second fermentation. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13
- International Code of Oenological Practices, I.4.4 Sparkling wines. OIV. level 2 · checked 2026-10-13
- Maturation. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13
- Riddling. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13
- Disgorgement. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13
- Dosage. Comité Champagne. level 4 · checked 2026-10-13