🍷 Pupitre
A wooden rack with slanted holes where bottles are placed for riddling.
A pupitre is a wooden rack for sparkling wine bottles. Two boards are joined in an A-shape and drilled with angled holes for the necks. Bottles of Champagne and other traditional-method wines are placed in it during riddling.
Why is it needed? After the second fermentation, dead yeast sediment stays in the bottle. It has to be gathered in the neck so it can be removed. Every day a worker gives each bottle a small turn and tilts it a little more neck-down. Over a few weeks the bottle moves from nearly horizontal to nearly upright, and the sediment slides down to the cork.
The invention of the pupitre is credited to the house of the widow Clicquot in Champagne in the early 19th century. A skilled riddler could turn tens of thousands of bottles a day. Today most producers use machines called gyropalettes that turn hundreds of bottles at once. Pupitres are still used for special cuvées and large formats, and remain a familiar symbol of French wine and Champagne cellars.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Pupitre → → → 🗺️ French wine → kind of → 🗺️ Wines of Europe → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Riddling
- Related to
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Riddling
Frequently asked questions
What is a pupitre?
A wooden rack with angled holes that holds sparkling wine bottles during riddling, when the sediment is gathered in the neck.
Who invented the pupitre?
It is credited to the house of the widow Clicquot in Champagne in the early 19th century.
Are pupitres still used?
Yes, but less often. Most riddling is done by machines, and pupitres remain for special wines and large bottles.
Similar
🍷 Gyropalette · 🍷 Disgorgement · 🍷 Liqueur d'expédition · 🍷 Cryoextraction · 🍷 Tirage · 🍷 Reserve wine