Wine Production : Vine to Bottle - Vinum Vine

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WINE PRODUCTION
Some smaller houses have gyropalettes that have to be cranked
by hand, and some use a machine that looks like an automated
pupitre – pupimatic.
15.3.9 Stacking sur pointes
This is undertaken by some Champagne houses for all wines, and
by others for the best wines only. The bottles are stacked almost
vertically with the neck of one bottle into the base of another for a
period of up to three months.
15.3.10 Dégorgement
This is the disgorging of the yeasty sediment. The usual system used
today is dégorgement à la glace. The bottles, with the sediment in
the necks, are transported (still inverted) and the necks are inserted
into tubs containing a freezing mixture. After approximately 6 minutes,
the yeast becomes encapsulated in a slightly slushy ice pellet. The
bottles are removed, turned the right way up, and a machine removes
the crown cork. The pressure of the carbon dioxide ejects the yeast
sediment.
A few smaller houses still disgorge a la volée. The bottles are
held pointing upwards at an angle of 30° and the cork or crown cork
is removed manually and the sediment expelled into a hood.
15.3.11 Dosage (liqueur d’expedition)
The bottles are now topped up with a mixture of identical wine and a
small amount of cane sugar, the precise amount varying according
to the required style of wine.
15.3.12 Corking
The final cork is now inserted, and wired on. Labelling and the
addition of the foil will always only be undertaken just before
shipment, in order to avoid damage in the cellars.