Manufacture of champagne

1. Manufacture of champagne By – Ashwini Shinde (Food and Beverage service)

2. Methode champanoise • Picking and plucking the grapes • Grading and weighing • Removal of stalk • Crushing • Fermentation • Pressing • Racking • Fining • Filtering • Bottling • Secondary fermentation • Remuage

3. Picking and plucking • Grapes are picked according to the ripeness, color, flavor etc. • Plucking is done either mechanically or manually • Special scissors like “secateures” are used when it is done manually

4. Grading and weighing • Grapes are recorded as per the region • and weighed to suffice the quantity in the fermentation vatts • Grape verieties used for making champagne are • Chardonnay • Pinot noir • Pinot meunier

5. Destalking and crushing • Stalksareremovedbystemmer and crusher machine as shown in the diagram below

6. Fermentation • Fermentation is done under cool condition, and the juice is fermented to dryness so that the wine obtained as a base wine is suited for secondary fermentation Pressing • After fermentation the wine is pressed and kept for racking for some time so that the sediments settle down Fining • Fining agents like egg white, gelatin and icing glass is added to remove the suspended particles

7. Filtering • Wine is further filtered to remove sediments through a plate filter according to the size and density of the particles Bottling • After filtering the base wine is bottled and it is ready for secondary fermentation

8. Secondary fermentation • For secondary fermentation a solution of sweet wine or sugar and yeast is added in the bottle. • This is the time when bubbles are formed in the bottle which makes the wine sparkle due to the carbon di oxide released due to secondary fermentation • During this process the wine is kept on a riddlling rack called “Pupiters” with the neck slightly downward. • Each day skilled workmen turn the bottle slightly and tilt it further to down to send the sediments down in the neck of the bottle next to cork • Once this process of removage is done the wine is ready for degorgement. • When the yeast is completely settled, the neck of the bottle is freezed so that the sediments are sealed in a plug of ice. • When the cork is removed the plug is pushed out by the pressure inside the bottle. Then a little cane sugar dissolved in wine is added to champagne to give its necessary degree of sweetness. • Bottle is then corked with its trademark champagne cork and wired

9. By the time of champagne leaves the cellars, it would be handled at least 150 times!!!! THANK YOU !!!!