Traditional method

Méthode traditionnelle · metodo classico · método tradicional

The traditional method makes wine sparkling through a second alcoholic fermentation inside a closed bottle, which keeps the carbon dioxide in the wine.¹ Under EU law the term requires at least 9 months on the lees without interruption and removal of the lees by disgorging.¹

In the course: The traditional method step by step

The steps

The Comité Champagne describes the sequence after the base wine is made as tirage, second fermentation in the bottle, ageing on the lees, riddling, disgorgement, dosage and corking.² Each step has its own page:

Harvest of whole bunches.
Pressing into separate fractions.
Débourbage, the settling of the juice.
First fermentation to a dry still base wine.
Malolactic fermentation, optional.
Assemblage of base wines and reserve wines.
Tirage: bottling with liqueur de tirage.
Prise de mousse, the second fermentation.
Ageing on lees.
Riddling.
Disgorgement.
Dosage with liqueur d'expédition.
Cork and wire cage.
Rest after disgorgement.

How the CO2 is produced and kept

The cuvée is bottled with a liqueur of wine, sugar and yeast, and sealed with a crown cap.^6,7 The yeast ferments that sugar in the closed bottle, so the CO2 cannot escape and dissolves in the wine.¹ Pressure reaches about 6 bar at 20 °C.^2,3 Champagne bottles are designed to withstand 12 atmospheres.³ The wine never leaves the bottle: the dead yeast is moved into the neck by riddling and expelled by disgorgement.² Champagne must be sold in the bottle in which the prise de mousse took place, except bottles under 75 cl or over 150 cl.⁸ For those formats see the transfer method.

Legal minimums

EU law reserves the traditional method terms for wines that spend at least 9 months in uninterrupted contact with the lees in the same undertaking, counted from the constitution of the cuvée, and that are separated from the lees by disgorging.¹ Appellations often ask for more:

Appellation or term	Minimum
Champagne	15 months from tirage, 36 for vintage^4,5
Cava	9 months on lees⁹
Franciacorta	18 months on lees¹⁰
Trento DOC	15 months on lees¹¹
Alta Langa	30 months¹²
English Quality Sparkling Wine	9 months on lees¹³

The Champagne figures come from INAO texts of 2024 and 2026, drafts under national opposition. The full comparison is on minimum ageing by appellation.

Where it is required or permitted

Rules that require second fermentation in the bottle include Champagne, the Crémant appellations such as Crémant de Loire, Cava, Franciacorta, Trento, Alta Langa, Oltrepò Pavese metodo classico, Sekt Austria Reserve and Große Reserve, German Winzersekt and English quality sparkling wine.^{4,14,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,18,13} The Asti rules permit it as Asti metodo classico, with at least 9 months on lees.¹⁹

Label wording

Regulation (EU) 2019/33 lists four terms: "bottle-fermented by the traditional method", "traditional method", "classical method" and "classical traditional method", with equivalents in other EU languages.¹ They are reserved for wines with a protected designation of origin or a third-country geographical indication.¹ "Crémant" adds further conditions on top of these.¹ The broader term "bottle-fermented" also covers the transfer method. Details are on label terms in EU law.