Out of the three methods of producing sparkling wines, the “Methode Traditionnelle” is the most costly and labour-intensive, but gives the best quality sparkling wines. This is why our winemakers use this method.

 

The first step to produce a sparkling wine is to produce a still white or rosé wine. This depends on whether it’s intended for the Zampa Soirée Brut made from Chenin Blanc, or the Zampa Soirée Brut Rosé made from Shiraz. This is called base wine. We harvest it a bit earlier to have a higher acidity which gives that crispness to the wine. We use a de-stemmer as well as the sorting table to keep only the best of our fruits. For our Zampa Soirée Brut, the grapes go directly to the press, and for our Zampa Soirée Brut Rosé, the skin is kept in contact for an hour with the juice to give it a light pale red colour and red fruity aromas, before going to the press.

 

As for all our still whites and rosés, the juice is filled into stainless steel tanks for stabilization. Temperature stabilization is done by cooling the juice between 10°C and 15°C for 24 hours, conditions that are more suitable for the white and rosé wine fermentation. Yeasts are added to induce the alcoholic fermentation. The action of the yeasts is to transform the sugar naturally contained in the grape juice into alcohol. A lot of CO2 is also produced, hence it is very important to leave the tanks open until the fermentation is finished.

We have our base wine.

The next step is the Malolactic fermentation, which is the same as that in making of white wine. Malic Acid is converted into Lactic Acid in this process.

 

Now starts the Methode Traditionnelle, to make sparkling wine from the base wine obtained earlier.

 

After a clarification process, we bottle the wine in traditional sparkling bottles. We add yeasts and sugar into the bottle: this is called “liqueur de tirage”. We put the “bidule” (a small plastic cup that fits in the bottle’s neck and into which the sediment eventually settles) and cork the bottle with a cap for a while. When yeasts come in contact with sugar, fermentation starts. It is during this second fermentation into the bottle, that we obtain those fine and natural bubbles. Temperature is very important during this stage; the cooler the fermentation, the finer the bubbles in the finished product. That is why we store the bottles close to the oak barrels in our temperature controlled cellar.

 

After this second fermentation is complete, dead yeast cells break down and settle at the bottom or attach to the side of the bottle. At this point it is determined how long the wine will remain “en tirage”, or on the yeast. Extended yeast contact gives wine a “yeasty” characteristic plus added complexity of secondary flavors. Once the desired time has passed, the sediment must be removed without losing the sparkle. The first step in this process is riddling or remuage.

 

For this task we use a riddling machine, a large bin attached to gyro-pallets with a timer which methodically turns the bottle from a horizontal position to an upside-down vertical position. The goal is to collect the sediments in the neck of the bottle to remove it more easily. It is done by quickly freezing the bottle’s neck in a freezing bath. By removing the cap, the pressure will push out the bidule with sediments which are in the frozen plug. This is called disgorgement.

 

After disgorgement, there is a lack in the bottle, which is filled by adding a tiny amount of wine and sugar depending on the sweetness we want to have in our final sparkling wine.

 

The wine is finally ready to be corked; we also add a wire hood.