Sparkling wine

Vereinfacht bezeichnet der Oberbegriff Schaumwein jene Weine, welche mit Kohlensäure (bzw. Kohlendioxyd; CO2) angereichert bzw. übersättigt wurden und daher einen Überdruck von mindestens 3 bar bei 20 °C aufweisen.

Schaumwein kann durch die Kohlensäure aus seiner natürlichen Gärung oder durch eingepumpte (fremde) Kohlensäure entstehen

Ist der Kohlensäureüberdruck in der Flasche herstellungsbedingt nur sehr gering (mindestens 1,0 bis 2,5 bar bei 20 °C), sprudelt der Wein im Glas nur geringfügig und man spricht von einem ‚Perlwein‘. Perlwein ist kein Schaumwein, sondern gilt von der Qualitätsstufe her lediglich als ‚Tafelwein‘.

Sparkling wine was not invented, but is rather a freak of nature. Sparkling wines are not only made from grape juice, but also from a variety of other fruits. These are often grouped together as 'sparkling wine-like drinks'.

Almost every wine has 'bubbled' more or less naturally at some point in its development. When yeasts in grape juice or 'must' encounter sugar, they will convert this sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide at an appropriate temperature. During this so-called fermentation, every must bubbles to a greater or lesser extent. Normally, however, the carbon dioxide evaporates during fermentation almost as quickly as it is produced. As soon as the yeasts no longer process sugar, the must no longer bubbles. As a result, this alcoholic must is commonly referred to as (still) wine. The 'trick' in the production of sparkling wine is therefore not the formation of carbon dioxide, but rather the successful 'imprisonment' of the carbon dioxide in a wine bottle. This is achieved using three methods:

1 The oldest method of producing sparkling wine is known as the rural method or méthode rurale. Here, the must ferments partially or completely in closed containers - based solely on the grape sugar present in the original vines.

In this method, the must ferments only once (as in the production of conventional wines). This fermentation can either take place completely in pressurised containers or be interrupted by cool temperatures. While the yeast rests temporarily in the cool must during the interrupted fermentation, this still incompletely fermented must can be transferred to bottles, which are then sealed tightly with corks (crown or natural corks). The same yeasts then continue fermentation with the remaining sugar at warmer temperatures in the bottles. Once the process is complete, the yeast sediment is removed from the bottles (by disgorging) or the pressurised containers (by filtering). Generally, the same bottles are then sealed tightly with natural corks during bottle fermentation. The sparkling wine from the pressurised tanks is bottled and also sealed with natural corks.

Sparkling wines that are fermented using only the natural grape sugar from the vines are also known as natural sparkling wines. The famous Asti Spumante is a classic in this group of sparkling wines. There is also the Blanquette de Limoux and the Clairette de Die.

Im Laufe der Zeit setzten Kellermeister dem Most öfters mehr oder weniger qualifiziert Zucker zu, um bei seiner Gärung die Entstehung von mehr Kohlensäure hervorzurufen. Die Perfektion dieser Art der Schaumweinproduktion (bei der es nicht nur um ‚mehr Kohlensäure‘ ging) entstand in der Champagne. Daher wurde die dort praktizierte Methode als méthode champenois weltweit bekannt. Bis in die 80er Jahre des 19. Jahrhunderts war diese Abwandlung der klassischen méthode rurale bei der Herstellung von Champagne und Sekt oft noch im Einsatz. Manchmal wird die Erweiterung bzw. Fortsetzung der ersten Gärung (Nachgärung) durch Zugabe von Zucker zwecks Förderung der Kohlensäurebildung in druckfesten Behältnissen auch als ‚zweite Gärung‘ bezeichnet. Erst seit der erfolgreichen Züchtung von besonderen Hefen (sogenannten Reinzuchthefen; 1894 in Geisenheim/Deutschland, 1895 in Epernay/Frankreich) kann jedoch von einer zweiten Gärung bei der Sekt- oder Champagnergewinnung auf heutigem Niveau die Rede sein.

2. in the second method, the must is not partially or completely fermented in pressurised containers, but a finished (still) wine is stimulated to ferment again by the addition of sugar and pure yeast. This is referred to as the second fermentation. In simple terms, one could also say that talented cellar masters allow their already finished wines to produce carbon dioxide again by adding sugar and special yeast. This second fermentation of the wines (or wine blends) must be carried out in pressurised containers (large-capacity fermentation) or in sealed bottles (bottle fermentation) so that the carbon dioxide does not evaporate. The second fermentation can in turn be realised using three different processes:

2a. Charmat process, large-capacity fermentation (méthode charmat)
Named after the French scientist Eugene Charmat, this process involves large-capacity fermentation in large stainless steel pressurised tanks. Some of these air-conditioned tanks hold 100,000 to 200,000 litres of wine. The wine is brought to a second fermentation by adding sugar and cultured yeast. The resulting carbon dioxide remains trapped in the pressurised tank and transforms the wine into sparkling wine. As the yeasts give the sparkling wine further precious flavours after they die off, the yeast sediment in the tank is periodically stirred up by powerful agitators. In the case of German sparkling wine, for example, the sparkling wine spends at least six months with the yeast sediment in the tank. The dosage, which gives the sparkling wine the desired residual sweetness of flavour, can also be mixed very evenly into the enormous quantity of sparkling wine. Finally, the tank is cooled down to minus degrees. At this temperature, the carbon dioxide in the sparkling wine becomes 'inactive' and is therefore bound in the sparkling wine. The sparkling wine can now be filtered and bottled. Of the more than 1.5 billion bottles of various sparkling wines from all over the world, the majority are produced using the Charmat process. Almost every German sparkling wine is also produced in this way.

2.b. Transvasier procedure
The name for this process is derived from the French word transvaser, which means 'to decant' or 'to pour'. The transvasier process is a fully automated type of 'bottle fermentation'. The second fermentation of the wines takes place in many bottles as part of a large closed system. After the wine has completed its second fermentation in the bottles (often magnum bottles that can be used several times), it is transported under counterpressure into large pressurised tanks. It can then be flavoured with sugar (similar to the Charmat process) and filtered. It is then filled into (new) bottles. The reader might now justifiably ask why the Charmat process was not used to produce the sparkling wine. The reason could be hidden in the word 'bottle fermentation', as German legislation allows this term to be used on the labelling of sparkling wines of this type. To the connoisseur, the word 'bottle fermentation' probably suggests 'added value' and 'tradition', which should result in a higher price.

2.c. Traditional bottle fermentation, classic bottle fermentation process
Sparkling wines of this type are produced in a similar (sometimes exact) way to champagne. The second fermentation takes place in individual bottles. The sparkling wines are then stored 'on the lees' for a long time, shaken by hand or by machine, then disgorged, sometimes with a dosage, sealed with natural corks and delivered. In the past, this process was generally referred to as méthode champenois in the EC. Later, this designation was legally restricted to Champagne products. In some other countries outside the EC, however, this designation still exists today. This process produces the most elaborate and best sparkling wines in the world. Champagne has long been recognised as the undisputed king of this class, but there are sometimes other excellent sparkling wines from different countries. For example, there are certain vintner sparkling wines that can simply be described as outstanding.

3. the third method does not actually deserve to be called a 'method', as it merely involves impregnation with carbon dioxide or the subsequent pumping of foreign carbon dioxide into a wine. Ultimately, the end product is more of a kind of 'sparkling wine', which may also be called 'sparkling wine', but in some countries (such as Germany) must be labelled as 'sparkling wine with added carbon dioxide'. Wine connoisseurs often consider sparkling wines of this type to be 'bottom drawer' in terms of quality.

Speaking of 'quality', not every sparkling wine can be labelled as a 'quality sparkling wine'. The legislator has provided at least half a dozen other sparkling wine qualifications to ensure that connoisseurs cannot be misled by producers about the quality of the sparkling wines produced. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with 'complex simplifications', the majority of connoisseurs do not understand the information (more or less noted on the label).

As noted, sparkling wine is not necessarily a quality sparkling wine. Although sparkling wine is a quality sparkling wine, it is not necessarily a 'Q.b.A' or quality sparkling wine from a specific growing region (sparkling wine b.A.). Cava, on the other hand, is a quality sparkling wine, but is generally referred to as 'cava' rather than 'sparkling wine'. Then there is also the so-called 'aromatic quality sparkling wine'. This quality sparkling wine may only be made from qualified 'bouquet grape varieties' (e.g. Gewürztraminer, Muscat varieties, Scheurebe and Huxelrebe). Although other quality sparkling wines should generally be pressurised to at least 3.5 bar, only 3 bar pressure is required for 'aromatic quality sparkling wine'. However, the 'aromatic quality sparkling wine' is a quality sparkling wine, which in turn may not be labelled as sparkling wine. There is also an exception rule where standard quality sparkling wines (Sekt) in quarter bottles only have to have a carbon dioxide overpressure of at least 3.0 bar instead of 3.5 bar. Sparkling wine is not only made from grapes, but also from many other fruits. However, these sparkling wines are not 'officially' sparkling wines, but rather 'fruit sparkling wines' or the fruit must be labelled (e.g. 'apple sparkling wine'). Bottle fermentation' is also not the same as bottle fermentation. A distinction is made between 'bottle fermentation' and 'bottle fermentation according to the traditional method'.

It is therefore understandable that many sparkling wine connoisseurs, who simply want the superlative among sparkling wines, go straight for champagne.

The history of sparkling wine

If anyone should be credited with the 'invention' of sparkling wine, then the credit clearly goes to some resourceful Benedictine monks from the Aude valley in the south of France.

There is evidence that these monks at Saint-Hilaire Abbey in Limoux were already deliberately bottling incompletely fermented wines in the cool autumn around 1540, corking them with the then newly discovered oak corks and securing the corks to the neck of the bottle with strings. In the warm spring, the wine continued to ferment and the carbon dioxide was trapped in the bottles: The first sparkling wines were born!

This 'original method' of sparkling wine production is known as the méthode ancestrale. At the time of this méthode ancestrale, however, there was no process for properly removing the lees from the bottles. As a result, the sparkling wine was rather cloudy and the lees found their way into the glass. These original sparkling wines later became known as Blanquette wines. Today's well-known Blanquette de Limoux sparkling wines are 95% produced using more modern methods. However, the winegrowers still make the remaining 5% of their sparkling wines just like the resourceful monks in the style of the 16th century.

Sparkling wines were created in a similar way in England in the 17th century, which could actually also be described as 'original champagne':

Winegrowers in Champagne fermented their wines as much as possible before delivery, but sometimes not completely. In Champagne, cool autumnal weather often set in during the wine-making process, which meant that the yeasts went into a kind of 'hibernation' before fermentation was complete. In spring, the wine was then exported to England in barrels. Once in England, the yeasts suddenly came back to life in the warmer spring weather. The bottled and corked wines were then already modest sparkling wines that caused great enthusiasm at the English royal court (see also Saint Evremond).

As early as 1662, Dr Christopher Merret documented at the Royal Society of England that wine merchants apparently added "sugar and molasses" to various wines to promote foaming. In 1676, Sir George Etherege even spoke of a 'foaming champagne'.

In addition, the technology for producing high-quality, sturdy bottles (verre anglais) already existed in England. These robust bottles could withstand the carbon dioxide pressure far better than conventional bottles from France.

Oak corks had also long been available thanks to England's lively trade with Portugal. In Champagne, wooden stoppers and inadequate bottles were still widely used. In addition, although winegrowers in Champagne were aware of the subsequent effervescence of some of their wines in the spring, this was by no means a source of enthusiasm, but rather annoyed the winegrowers: effervescent wine was regarded as faulty, inferior and unripe. Such wine was then regularly labelled vin du diable (devil's wine). It was not until 20 to 30 years later that stronger bottles and oak corks slowly became established in Champagne. In addition, some winegrowers in Champagne realised that their 'vin du diable' was highly revered elsewhere as 'vin mousseaux'. As a result, more attention was also paid to the preservation and promotion of carbon dioxide in Champagne.

Over time, resourceful winegrowers and monks in Champagne refined the process of fermentation in the bottle, among other things. Until around 1730, however, sparkling wine was merely a product of natural secondary fermentation in the bottle. After that, the wine was increasingly bottled at earlier stages of the first fermentation in order to give the wine even more carbon dioxide in the bottle. Bottle breakage was no longer a rarity.

In addition to the increasing pressure in the Champagne bottles, Champagne houses also experienced a completely different kind of pressure at the same time: competition from abroad! The fact that sparkling wine from Champagne enjoyed great popularity was now internationally recognised. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, Champagne had already become a symbol of sparkling wine. Countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary and Russia also produced large quantities of sparkling wine in the 19th century.

In addition, every sparkling wine, regardless of its origin, was generally referred to as 'Champagne' as a matter of course in German-speaking countries. Virtually nobody knew the term 'sparkling wine', although a Mr J. G. Herder from Germany had already added a loan translation of the French 'vin mousseux' to the German vocabulary in 1779: 'Schaumwein'. It was not until 1876 that a German dictionary confirmed the term 'sparkling wine'. Until the Treaty of Versailles (1919), no law prohibited German sparkling wine producers from calling their sparkling wine 'Champagne'.

The big breakthrough for sparkling wine from Champagne came around 1800 with a decree from the French minister Antoine Chaptal (see also Chaptalisation). From then on, it was legally permitted to add sugar to wines that naturally contained relatively little sugar during fermentation.

For the winegrowers of Champagne in particular, the authorisation of subsequent sugaring was extremely advantageous, as the environmental conditions of this cool, northern winegrowing region were rarely able to provide the vines with sufficient natural grape sugar.

This new regulation actually referred to the addition of sugar to the must before the first fermentation. Soon afterwards, however, cellar masters also added sugar to their wines immediately before bottling; this addition was known as prise de mousse and resulted in fantastic effervescence. Shockingly, however, up to 80% of the bottles exploded in the cellars of the champagne houses. From a scientific point of view, it was not known how much sugar was right for the secondary fermentation in the bottles. This dreaded phenomenon was known at the time as casse. The enormous percentage of broken bottles also resulted in considerable price increases. As a result, only the rich could afford the remaining champagne. This also gave rise to the description of champagne (and later sparkling wine) as a 'luxury drink'.

Until this time, the unsightly dead yeast in the bottles (lees) could only be removed from the sparkling wine with great difficulty. Champagne bottles were initially placed upside down in a sandpit to move the dead yeast into the neck of the bottle. Around 1818, the famous widow Clicquot invented the riddling console together with the cellar master Antoine Müller. Since then, shaking the bottles to remove the lees has been perfected.

As early as 1815, the French scientist Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac presented the following theory: "One molecule of sugar releases two molecules of ethyl alcohol and two molecules of carbon dioxide and heat". Although groundbreaking, the new findings were unfortunately rather irrelevant in the practice of champagne production. It was not until 1836 that a French pharmacist developed a formula that reliably determined the appropriate amount of added sugar for the desired formation of carbon dioxide in the bottles (see also Réduction François).
In 1860, the famous French scientist Louis Pasteur proved that the original formula of the reaction during fermentation only applies to approx. 95% of the converted sugar, while the remaining approx. 5% in turn require important secondary substances such as (among others) glycerine, higher alcohols and certain acids.

By 1880, only around 5-6% of champagne and sparkling wine production was still affected by bottle breakage. Although the reason for the designation as a luxury drink had now been removed and champagne and sparkling wine were now often cheaper than other quality wines, the state's maintenance of this qualification as an 'object of luxury enjoyment' was a very convenient pretext for the considerable taxation of sparkling wines to this day. In 2003, the German tax on sparkling wine generated 432.3 million euros for the state coffers.

Bis in die 70er Jahre des 19. Jahrhunderts handelte es sich weitgehend lediglich um eine durch Zucker verstärkte Fortsetzung der ersten Gärung noch junger (einjähriger) Weine mit verbleibender (noch lebenskräftiger) Hefe (oder zeitweiligem Zusatz vom Gärtrub einer anderen Weingärung) in Flaschen. Die méthode champenois war letztlich nicht mehr als eine Erweiterung der ursprünglichen méthode rural. Erst in den 80er Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts begann sich die Zugabe eines hochqualifizierten Gemisches aus Wein, Zucker und besonderer Hefe (liqueur de tirage) bei den Champagner-Häusern zum Zwecke einer zweiten Gärung durchzusetzen. Erst seit der erfolgreichen Züchtung von Reinzuchthefen (1894 in Geisenheim, 1895 in Epernay) kann von Champagner- oder Sektherstellung im heutigen Sinne die Rede sein. Aus besonders guten Weinen wurden bestimmte Hefestämme von Wissenschaftlern sorgfältig isoliert. Bis heute sind sie als Champagner-Hefen bzw. Schaumwein-Hefen bekannt. Diese Hefen zeichnen sich durch hohe Alkohol- und Glycerin-Bildung aus und sind ideal für die Bereitung jener Schaumweinen, welche durch eine zweite Gärung bereits vergorener Weine entstehen. Bei hohen Alkoholgraden, erheblichem Kohlensäuredruck und kühlen Temperaturen, gären diese Zuchthefen weiter, wo die Vielzahl anderer Hefesorten längst versagt haben bzw. abgestorben sind. Hinzu kommt, daß Zuchthefen nach dem Absterben einen körnigen, leichter zu rüttelnden Satz bilden und gleichzeitig dem Schaumwein besondere aromatische Qualitäten verleihen.

In the meantime, the French scientists Jaunay and Maumené had successfully tinkered with a pressurised large container for fermenting wines in 1852. As early as 1888, the 'Deutsche Schaumweinfabrik in Wachenheim' was founded in Germany, which used so-called large-capacity fermentation. In 1910, the Frenchman Eugene Charmat developed an exemplary pressurised tank process for the automatic production of large quantities of sparkling wine. His process suddenly changed the sparkling wine industry in Europe: by 1930, over five million bottles of sparkling wine were already being produced using the 'Charmat process' in France alone.

By 1910, the sparkling wine industry was already moving in different directions. While other regions in France and the rest of the world were increasingly turning to 'progressive methods' in the sense of making sparkling wines cheaper through large-scale fermentation, quantity, abbreviated fermentation processes and impregnated sparkling wines, Champagne remained strictly true to its tradition of elaborate bottle fermentation and top quality (rather than quantity). In any case, Champagne was already well known worldwide as the non plus ultra. In addition, many prominent and influential champagne houses had long since emerged. In neighbouring Germany in particular, however, large-scale fermentation for the production of sparkling wine was gaining a foothold. Traditional (bottle-fermented) sparkling wines were also fighting for market share. Similarly, very favourable impregnated sparkling wines were now successfully participating in the market.

The Charmat process was perfected in Germany after the Second World War. For many decades, the majority of sparkling wines around the world have been produced using large-capacity fermentation.

However, there is no doubt among wine connoisseurs that the elaborate traditional bottle fermentation of Champagne (and some other sparkling wines) produces a much higher quality sparkling wine. In return, however, the 'other' sparkling wines of the Charmat method are considerably cheaper.

Quality has its price.

 

 

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