🍷 Traditional method

The traditional method is a way of making sparkling wine in which the second fermentation takes place in the bottle itself. This is how Champagne is made, so it was once called the Champagne method. That word is now reserved for Champagne, and other wines say traditional or classic method.

First a still base wine is made. Then comes the tirage: sugar and yeast are added to the bottle, which is closed with a crown cap. The yeast eats the sugar and releases carbon dioxide, which stays in the wine as bubbles. The wine then rests on its lees for months or many years, which adds notes of bread and brioche. Riddling moves the sediment to the neck, disgorging removes it, and the dosage sets the sweetness.

Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Franciacorta, Trento, South African Cap Classique and English sparkling wine are made this way. The method is slow and costly but gives fine, lasting bubbles. Simpler alternatives are the transfer method and the Charmat tank method.