Lesson 3 of 9 · 5 minutes

  1. 1. What makes wine sparkle
  2. 2. The life of a bubble
  3. 3. Five ways to make bubbles
  4. 4. The traditional method step by step
  5. 5. Grapes and the blend
  6. 6. Sugar and dosage
  7. 7. Where it sparkles
  8. 8. Reading the label
  9. 9. Serving

Five ways to make bubbles

After this lesson you will be able to tell the five main ways of making wine sparkle apart by asking one question: where is the gas made, and where is it kept?

  1. 01

    Traditional method: in the bottle you buy

    In the traditional method a still base wine gets sugar and yeast and ferments a second time in a closed bottle.1 The wine never leaves that bottle: the dead yeast is collected in the neck and removed by disgorgement.2 EU law asks for at least 9 months on the lees.1 Champagne, Cava and Franciacorta are made this way.3,4,5

  2. 02

    Transfer method: bottle, then tank

    The transfer method starts the same way, with a second fermentation in a bottle. Then the bottles are emptied into a tank under pressure, the wine is filtered off its lees and bottled again.1 This saves riddling and disgorging each bottle one by one. In the EU such wine may say "bottle-fermented", but not "traditional method".1 Champagne allows transfer only for some small and large bottle sizes.3

  3. 03

    Tank method: one big closed tank

    In the tank method the base wine ferments a second time in a closed pressure tank, an autoclave. The wine is then filtered and bottled under pressure.6 The method is also called Charmat, Martinotti or cuve close.7 For EU wines with a PDO the whole process takes at least 6 months, against 9 in a bottle.6 Prosecco DOC spumante must be made this way.8

  4. 04

    A special case: Asti

    Asti also uses a closed tank, but with only one fermentation. Fresh must goes straight into the autoclave and ferments there, and the fermentation is stopped while sugar remains, so the wine stays sweet and lower in alcohol.9 The whole process needs at least 1 month.9 So the same vessel can hold a second fermentation, as for Prosecco, or a single one, as in the Asti method.

  5. 05

    Ancestral method: one fermentation in the bottle

    The ancestral method has no second fermentation. The wine is bottled while its only fermentation is still running, so the bubbles come from the grape's own sugar.10 In Clairette de Die no liqueur may be added before or after, the wine rests at least 4 months on its lees and keeps at least 35 g/L of sugar.10 The informal pét-nat style works on the same idea.

  6. 06

    Carbonation: gas from outside

    In carbonation no fermentation makes the bubbles: CO2 from an outside source is dissolved in a finished still wine.11 There is no lees ageing and no disgorgement. EU law puts these wines in the separate "aerated" categories, and the label must say "obtained by adding carbon dioxide".11,1 Aerated sparkling wine is made from wine without a PDO or PGI, so it cannot carry a protected appellation.11

Remember

  1. Traditional method: second fermentation in the bottle you buy, lees removed by disgorgement, at least 9 months on lees in the EU.
  2. Transfer method: second fermentation in a bottle, then filtering in a tank; the label may say "bottle-fermented".
  3. Tank method: second fermentation in a closed pressure tank; Prosecco DOC spumante is made this way.
  4. Ancestral method: one fermentation, finished in the bottle, with the grape's own sugar.
  5. Carbonation: gas added from outside; the wine is "aerated" and must say so.

Check yourself

1In which method does the wine stay in the bottle where it fermented the second time?

2What sets the ancestral method apart from the traditional one?

3Where does Prosecco DOC spumante get its bubbles?

See also

Traditional methodMethodsTransfer methodMethodsTank methodMethodsAncestral methodMethodsAsti methodMethodsCarbonationMethods

Sources

  1. EUR-Lex. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (consolidated text), Articles 47, 48, 49, 53, 54 and Annex III Part A (2023-12-08)
  2. Comité Champagne / champagne.education. L'élaboration du Champagne (fiche) (2024)
  3. Cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » - modifications approved by the INAO national committee on 11 September 2024 (national opposition procedure text) (2024-09-11)
  4. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (Spain). Pliego de condiciones de la Denominación de Origen Protegida «Cava»
  5. Consorzio per la tutela del Franciacorta. Franciacorta DOCG production regulations (English translation), as amended 17 July 2017 (2017-07-17)
  6. legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/934, Annex II (sparkling wine oenological practices), as reproduced on legislation.gov.uk (2019-03-12)
  7. OIV International Code of Oenological Practices, II.4.3 Bulk second fermentation in a closed tank (II.4.3.1-II.4.3.5) and II.4.4.1 continuous method
  8. Gazzetta Ufficiale (copy hosted by unionalimentari.com). Decreto 8 agosto 2019, disciplinare DOP Prosecco (GU n. 199, 26 August 2019), reproduction (2019-08-08)
  9. Regione Piemonte. Disciplinare di produzione DOCG Asti (2025-01)
  10. INAO. Cahier des charges AOP Clairette de Die, proposed modification approved by national committee 29/30 June 2023 (2023-06-30)
  11. legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII Part II (categories of grapevine products), as reproduced on legislation.gov.uk (2013-12-17)

Facts checked on 2026-10-20