Débourbage

Step 3 · settling the juice

Débourbage is the settling of freshly pressed juice: solids sink and the clear juice is drawn off after 12 to 24 hours.1 In Champagne the must has to be settled before it leaves the pressing centre.2

How it is done

The juice from the press runs into a settling tank, called a belon in Champagne.1 A small amount of sulphur dioxide is added at this point. The Comité Champagne describes it as an antiseptic and an antioxidant.1 Over the next 12 to 24 hours the solids sink to the bottom, and the clear juice is drawn off the deposit.1

The rule in Champagne

The Champagne cahier des charges requires the musts to be settled before they leave the pressing centre.2 The text read is an INAO draft under national opposition. Settling therefore takes place at the pressing centre.

Settling and the Champagne yield

The Champagne yield limit is written in settled must: base wines are produced within 102 litres of settled must per 160 kg of grapes.2,3 Settling is therefore part of how the permitted volume is measured. The pressing centres where it takes place are approved and inspected at regular intervals.4

What comes next

The clear must goes to first fermentation, which turns it into a still base wine for the traditional method or the tank method.

See also

PressingMethodsFirst fermentationMethodsTraditional methodMethodsChampagneRegions

Sources

  1. Comité Champagne (champagne.fr). Settling
  2. 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)
  3. Cahier des charges AOP Champagne, proposed modifications approved by INAO national committee 18 June 2026 (2026-06-18)
  4. Comité Champagne (champagne.fr). Pressing

Facts checked on 2026-10-19