Juice into wine (part 3)

The sound of opening a bottle of Champagne has been likened to the sigh of a satisfied woman. indeed The sparkle holds more mystique and romance than any other wine. Leonie Joubert pops the cork on the centuries-old charm of sparkling wine making. It is a Benedictine monk who is ascribed, in wine folklore, the honour of serendipitously "making" or "discovering" the explosive charm of bottle fermented wine. Dom Pérignon, during his stint as "cellarmaster" at the Abbey of Hautville in the late 1600s, was trying hard NOT to make bubbly - and used mostly red grapes in his winemaking to avoid "problematic" second fermentation in the bottle. Now Dom P sails brazenly on the crest of the Champagne wave - his the name adopted for the flagship wine of the House of Moët & Chandon.

Still life with wine

The journey of dry Champagne wine starts much the same as any (mostly white) wine. Grapes are picked, preferably at an early stage of ripeness to get low sugar and high acid. Traditionally Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, are enlisted for this fine service. The grapes are often whole bunch pressed and fermentation begins. If colour is desired, the Pinot Noir will be allowed a short stay on the skin.

First fermentation continues until the wine is bone dry - this, the still base wine, is then blended together from the different components in anticipation of the magical transformation to come. The base wine may receive wood treatment.

Abracadabra

The uninitiated may not understand the beguiling powers sparkling wine wields over its devotees. Ephemeral though it be, bubbly has a band of bewitched followers.

So how's it done? Simple: a second fermentation in a tightly sealed environment which retains the carbon dioxide resulting from the fermentation, causing it to dissolve into the liquid.

Méthode champenoise ("traditional method" for such wines made outside of Champagne) involves adding to the still wine a mix of sugar and yeast before the wine is sealed into bottles (the same bottle in which it will finally be sold and served) using crown caps - like beer bottle tops. The bottles are then stacked into racks and stored at about 12°C where the second fermentation kicks in - often the cooler the fermentation temperature, the tighter, finer and more integrated the mousse.

This can take from four to eight weeks. As fermentation continues, live yeast consumes sugar, producing more alcohol and carbon dioxide. The gas cannot escape, forcing the pressure within the bottle to as much as five or six atmospheres. The gas remains dissolved in the liquid until the pressure is released - whereupon it bubbles happily in the glass and explodes in a fit of merriment on the tongue.

Once fermentation is complete, the dead yeast cells accumulate as "lees" in the bottle - how long the vintner chooses to leave the wine on this lees depends on the style he requires. More lees contact results in greater creamy, buttery character.

Bottoms up

Now the lees must be removed from the bottle. There's no harm in it, but a murky bubbly does lack elegance.

The bottles are placed in A-framed pallets (pupitres) and, over the course of about six weeks, are painstakingly riddled by hand (remuage) - each bottle is rotated daily on its side and moved into an inverted vertical position. Slowly the lees settles into the neck of the bottle. (Modern establishments use hi-tech gyropalettes to complete this process in a speedy three days - bottles are placed in crates attached to the machine which shakes and tilts the bottles until the same effect is achieved.)

The bottle neck is then dipped into a freezing solution. The crown cap is removed, allowing the frozen sediment "plug" to pop out - disgorgement. Dosage, a syrupy mix of sugar and wine, is usually added to bring sugar and alcohol levels to the required amount, to balance out usually high acid, and to replace lost liquid.

The Champagne cork is inserted, wire muzzle secured in place and labelling completed. The bubbly is now ready for further bottle maturation or for consumption, depending on the style of wine.

No great shakes

The traditional method is arduous. Short cuts have been developed to get the fizz into the wine with less manpower. Some of these include:

Transversage - after disgorgement, wine is transferred from bottle to high pressure tanks where dosage is added before rebottling.

Transfer method - to dispense with the laborious riddling, after second fermentation the young bubbly is moved from bottle to pressure tanks. The lees is removed by filtration before the wine is rebottled.

Continuous method - a complicated process where second fermentation takes place within a five tank system.

Charmat or tank method - base wine is pumped into huge pressure tanks, sugar and yeast added and second fermentation completed in the tanks.

Carbonation - think "soda stream". Gas is pumped into still wine contained in pressure tanks, exactly as with fizzy drinks, before being bottled under pressure. No second fermentation occurs and hence, no lees or lees contact.

Suggested line-up

Compare these in a local line-up:

A traditional style bubbly, like Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut, from unwooded Chardonnay and Pinot Noir;

The traditional style Villiera Tradition Brut Non Vintage, with its non-traditional blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chenin and Pinotage;

The carbonated alternative from Twee Jonge Gezellen's Rose Brut, a rosé from Pinot Noir, Chenin and Chardonnay with fizz added by the method used in making soft drinks. Tip of the Month

Get the best out of your bubbles by using a fluted Champagne glass, rather than the clumsy Marie-Antoinette coupe shape. The former exposes a small surface area to air, reducing loss of bubble and retains the chill in the wine. Compare the mousse (or bubbles) of the above wines - a carbonated wine tends to have a chunky bubble which disappears quickly in the glass and on the tongue (imagine a can of Coke and how quickly it loses its sparkle). Traditionally made bubbly has a fine, full mousse that doesn't go flat as quickly and explodes on the tongue.