🍷 Tirage
Bottling wine with sugar and yeast for a second fermentation.
Tirage is the stage of traditional-method sparkling wine production when the finished still wine is bottled for its second fermentation. The French word tirage means drawing off. This is where ordinary wine starts turning into sparkling wine.
Before bottling, the liqueur de tirage is added: sugar dissolved in wine, special yeast and sometimes riddling aids that later help the sediment slide down to the neck. Usually about 24 grams of sugar per litre are used. That is enough to build a pressure of around 5–6 bar as the wine ferments in the bottle. The bottles are closed with a temporary crown cap, like a beer bottle, and laid flat in a cool cellar.
The second fermentation then takes place in the bottle, followed by long ageing on the lees. After that come riddling, disgorging and dosage. The tirage date is sometimes printed on the label, especially for Champagne, showing how long the wine rested on its yeast. Tirage is linked to the traditional method and to French wine, where the term began.
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Traditional method
- Related to
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Secondary fermentation, 🍷 Traditional method
Frequently asked questions
What is tirage in winemaking?
It is bottling wine with sugar and yeast for a second fermentation. It is the start of traditional-method sparkling wine.
How much sugar is added at tirage?
Usually about 24 grams per litre. That gives roughly 5–6 bar of pressure in the bottle.
Why is the tirage date put on the label?
It shows how long the wine aged on its lees. Longer ageing gives a more complex taste.
Similar
🍷 Disgorgement · 🍷 Riddling · 🍷 Liqueur de tirage · 🍷 Transfer method · 🍷 Dosage · 🍷 Pupitre