Riddling

Step 10 · remuage on pupitre or gyropalette

Riddling (remuage) turns and tilts each bottle step by step until the yeast deposit collects in the neck, ready for disgorgement.1 By hand on wooden pupitres it takes weeks; automated cages of about 500 bottles do it in about a week, or one to two weeks according to the UMC.1,2

By hand

On wooden pupitres the bottles are turned 1/8 or 1/4 at a time, about 25 turns on average, and tilted gradually until they stand neck down ("sur pointe").1 Each pupitre holds 120 bottles, set at about 35 degrees at the start.2

By machine

Automated riddling machines (gyropalettes) handle metal cages of about 500 bottles; the UMC gives 504.1,2 They run day and night.1 The principle is the same as by hand, turning and tilting, applied to a whole cage at once.

Where the sources differ

The Comité Champagne (champagne.fr) and the Union des Maisons de Champagne give different figures:

PointComité ChampagneUMC
Manual riddling time4-6 weeks1At least 6 weeks, sometimes 2-3 months2
A remueur's daily outputAbout 40,000 bottles150,000-60,000 bottles2
Gyropalette timeAbout 1 week11-2 weeks2

Rules

Trento DOC rules explicitly require riddling and disgorging ("scuotimento e sboccatura").3 Riddling belongs to the traditional method; the transfer method removes lees by filtration instead.4

Before riddling comes ageing on lees; after it, disgorgement.

See also

Ageing on leesMethodsDisgorgementMethodsTraditional methodMethodsTransfer methodMethodsTrento DOCRegions

Sources

  1. Comité Champagne (champagne.fr). Riddling
  2. Union des Maisons de Champagne. Pointage, remuage (riddling) and dépointage
  3. Camera di Commercio di Trento. Disciplinare di produzione DOC Trento (modificato con DM 30.11.2011) (2011-11-30)
  4. EUR-Lex. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (consolidated text), Articles 47, 48, 49, 53, 54 and Annex III Part A (2023-12-08)

Facts checked on 2026-10-19