Methods - Hubert Sparkling wine

The process of making our sparkling wine

Sparkling wine comes from twice refined grapes. The end product, so called cuvée, which is made by merging wines of different varieties, undergoes secondary fermentation. This determines the method of production. At Hubert J.E. we produce sparkling wines using these four methods.

Traditional method

Secondary fermentation takes place directly in the bottle. After a thorough fermentation there is an intermittent clockwise and counterclockwise turning of the bottles. Bottles go gradually from a horizontal into a vertical position. Yeast residues are removed after an ice bath. The bottle undergoes an ice bath and the depot is removed from the sparkling wine by internal pressure (it’s called disgorging) once the bottle is opened. The missing volume is replaced with so-called expedition liqueur.

Charmat method

In this method the bottle is replaced by a bulk fermentation tank, in which the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation. After the secondary fermentation has been completed the wine will age for at least six months. In the final production stage yeasts are filtered and expedition liquor is added.

Transvals method

It is the original traditional method, in which sparkling wine is made from bottled natural wine by means of a second fermentation. The main difference from the traditional method is the final stage when the wine is consolidated and filtered before it is bottled for dispatch.

Asti method

No sugar is added to the wine. Managed primary fermentation of wine takes place at a regulated temperature and stops when the right ratio of alcohol has been achieved.