A WORLD OF EXPERTISE

Today, across our five CHANDON wineries, our winemaking teams use two principal methods to make sparkling wine: the traditional method – our ancestral method, used to make champagne – and the slow-ferment long Charmat method. 

For both methods, our CHANDON winemakers start by crafting a still base wine. This first fermentation takes place in state-of-the-art stainless-steel tanks. Our winemakers craft separate wines from individual grape varieties and vineyard sites. Then, in the tasting room, they blend these, sometimes adding wines that have been reserved from previous years. It’s a highly complex process that’s half science, half art. 

At this point, the methods diverge. For both, a second fermentation is necessary to produce the characteristic bubbles, or mousse, of sparkling wine. In the traditional method, this secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle. In our slow-ferment long Charmat method, secondary fermentation takes place in tanks. The two methods are explained in more detail below. 

Making the best sparkling wine demands technical prowess, but also prescience. Predicting how a base wine will taste once it has been through all the stages of secondary fermentation, maturation, dosage and bottle age is a key skill of our CHANDON winemakers. 

Why do we use two methods, and which is better? We are often asked this.

It’s not a question of quality. Our five houses produce a range of styles of sparkling wine; all are of the highest quality. It’s a question of the style of wine we wish to achieve: at CHANDON, technique follows style, not the other way around. At each CHANDON house, our teams have the freedom to select the method that is right for our fruit, terroir, climate and customers’ tastes. Whichever method our experts choose, they always apply the time and care necessary to achieve a slow awakening of aromas during secondary fermentation; this is what brings the depth of flavor they demand. 

Is there a CHANDON house style? Yes. Generally, our wines are fresh and fruity, with just enough complexity and good acidity. They’re approachable and easy to drink – in keeping with our personality. 

CHANDON CRAFT

FROM FIELD TO BOTTLE: OUR METHODS EXPLAINED

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS

VINEYARDS, GRAPES, VITICULTURE

WHERE IT ALL BEGINS

VINEYARDS, GRAPES, VITICULTURE

Throughout the year, our viticulturists are hard at work pruning, training and ensuring the health of our vineyards: vines, insects, animals, other plant species, soil, and bordering ecosystems. 


Towards the end of the growing season, our CHANDON teams are constantly out among the vines, tasting grapes and reviewing the weather to choose the perfect moment for harvest. We want fruit that has matured slowly, so it doesn’t reach sugar ripeness before it has developed a good flavor. We want freshness and acidity in our juice. 

When the moment comes, we pick when it’s cool outside. This means harvesting at night or early in the morning. We pick as quickly as we can, because warm fruit deteriorates fast.

At some of our CHANDON wineries, picking is done by hand. At others, we machine-pick. Our hi-tech machine harvesters are incredibly sensitive and gentle, and can detect ripe from unripe berries, so we're always assured of the very best raw material for our sparkling wines. 

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EXTRACTING THE JUICE

PRESSING

EXTRACTING THE JUICE

PRESSING

Whether we use the traditional method or our slow ferment long Charmat method, the first stages of winemaking are the same. 


It begins with juice. At the winery, grapes are pressed in batches according to variety and origin site – using gentle pneumatic presses in order not to extract too much tannin from the skins and pips. We separate off and remove any solid matter. We now have a pure, clear grape juice on which to work our magic. 

CRAFTING A STILL BASE WINE

FIRST FERMENTATION

CRAFTING A STILL BASE WINE

FIRST FERMENTATION

Primary fermentation takes place immediately after pressing, in stainless-steel tanks. We add our own yeasts to the carefully pressed juice, and then monitor the juice carefully as it ferments over a period of around two to three weeks. The yeasts consume the natural grape sugars, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2). At the end of this stage of the winemaking process, we will have a still wine that's typically crisp and dry.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

BLENDING

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

BLENDING

Once primary fermentation has taken place, our winemakers begin the highly skilled process of tasting and blending. In the tasting room, they blend wines from different parcels, varieties and vintages. Sometimes they add in a proportion of wine from our reserves – still wines we have crafted in previous years – in order to create the right aromatic and organoleptic profile for the wine they're crafting. Every decision CHANDON winemakers take at this stage will impact how the wine evolves during and beyond the remainder of the winemaking process. 


Now we have our base blend, or assemblage. 

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THE MAGIC OF BUBBLES

SECONDARY FERMENTATION

It is now time for secondary fermentation – the bit that creates the sparkle. We mix sugar and yeast to create a syrup known as the liqueur de tirage. We add this to the base wine. The wine must now be allowed to ferment slowly, under pressure, so that the CO2 cannot escape and thus dissolves in the wine. How this is achieved depends on whether our wine teams are using the traditional method or our slow-ferment long Charmat method. This, then, is the point at which the winemaking methods diverge.

TRADITIONAL METHOD

BOTTLE FERMENTATION

TRADITIONAL METHOD

BOTTLE FERMENTATION

In the traditional method, secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle. The wine is drawn into a fresh tank where the liqueur de tirage is added. The wine is then bottled, sealed with a crown cap, and placed in our cellars at a constant temperature of 57 to 60°F while the yeast and sugars get to work, fermenting and producing CO2 and alcohol.


Once secondary fermentation is complete, after around six weeks, the spent yeast cells, known as lees, are allowed to remain in the bottle in order to impart flavor complexity. The bottles are tilted neck downwards and regularly turned to encourage the lees to settle in the neck (a process known as riddling). The wine now rests in bottle for anything between nine months and 10 years, depending on the level of yeasty character and complexity desired in the final style.

TRADITIONAL METHOD

DISGORGEMENT

TRADITIONAL METHOD

DISGORGEMENT

Once riddling is complete, the lees – the spent yeast cells – have formed a kind of plug in the bottle neck. It’s time to disgorge the wines. This ingenious process involves freezing the bottle neck, which in turn freezes the yeast plug inside. We then remove the crown cap. The pressure inside the bottle forces the yeast plug out, along with a small amount of the wine. 

TRADITIONAL METHOD

DOSAGE

TRADITIONAL METHOD

DOSAGE

After disgorgement, when some wine is expelled along with the yeast plug, the level in bottle is lower than before. This means there's room for the liqueur d’expédition – a syrup made of wine and sugar that adjusts the final flavor profile – which our winemakers add before finally sealing the bottle with a cork and a wire muselet. 

The wine is now left to rest for at least three more months for the dosage to integrate.

The amount of sugar in the liqueur d’expédition determines the final sweetness of the wine. At CHANDON, our wines range from Brut Nature (also known as zero dosage, with less than 3g/l residual sugar) to Doux (fully sweet, with 50g/l or more). Our classic Brut wines have up to 15g of sugar per litre. Tastes in sweetness vary by country.

LONG CHARMAT METHOD

SECONDARY FERMENTATION IN TANK

LONG CHARMAT METHOD

SECONDARY FERMENTATION IN TANK

In our slow-ferment long Charmat method, once the base wine is made and the liqueur de tirage added, the wine is sealed into a stainless-steel tank for further fermentation to take place over a period of four to 12 months.


As the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation, in our method it is continuously stirred, agitating the lees in the wine. This contact allows a rich, creamy character to develop. It creates more complexity than the straightforward Charmat process, whilst still preserving the fresh, fruity aromas CHANDON winemakers require for our long Charmat sparkling wine styles.


Once fermentation and stirring are complete, the yeast cells are filtered out, the liqueur d’expédition – the final adjustment to the flavor and sweetness profile – is added, and the wine is bottled. It is left to rest while the aromas integrate and harmonize.