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CHAMPAGNE:
FROM VINES TO PLEASURE
From still
wine to the first bubbles
10. Disgorgement
Disgorgement consists of expelling the deposit from the bottle through internal pressure. The person carrying out this operation, the ‘dégorgeur’, opens the bottle that would previously have been set in an upside down position. This can be done in two ways: |
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- à la volée ("flying disgorgement"), which requires no prior preparation of the wine. The bottle is held upside down or slightly inclined on the left forearm with the base of the bottle in the crook of the arm and, using disgorgement pliers, the fastening around the cap or cork is removed and the bottle is quickly returned to an upright position. The pressure of the carbon dioxide in the bottle causes the deposit along with the cork or cap to come flying out of the bottle |
| The wine is first checked for clarity or any slight unusual odour. The thumb of the left hand is then placed over the neck and the bottle is placed on the dosage machine to await dosage..
Riddling, disgorgement, dosage
Vidéo 1'40 min |
An experienced ‘dégorgeur’ can perform this operation on around four hundred bottles per hour! If the bottle is uprighted too quickly the deposit is mixed back into the wine and it is then unsuitable for consumption. If, on the other hand, it is not brought up fast enough a considerable amount of the wine may end up on the floor. |
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- à la glace ("frozen disgorgement"), which is performed after the deposit has been frozen in the neck of the bottle. This is achieved by plunging the neck into a container of brine that is kept at around - 25°C. This creates an ice plug about four centimetres long that traps the deposit. After a few minutes the bottle is brought to an upright position and uncapped. The pressure forces out both the cork and the ice plug containing the deposit.
Using this technique up to 800 bottles per hour can be disgorged by hand. Through mechanisation this rate has been multiplied over twenty times and of course helps to ensure the cellar workers are less tired! |
An observer of this process would witness a surprising phenomenon when the bottles are opened. There is neither expulsion of gas nor the slightest trace of foam spilling from the bottle. This is due partly to the gaseous saturation that is established in the bottle during the generation of the carbon dioxide; partly to the low temperature which helps to maintain it; and last but not least, to the delicate handling and the lack of any impact against the sides of the bottle. If the bottle should be even slightly disturbed then the gaseous saturation explodes and the bottle would empty in a matter of seconds.
Nowadays disgorgement is almost totally mechanized and automated. Rates can vary between 2,000 and 18,000 bottles per hour. A disgorgement operation generally includes the following:
* a depalletizing system capable of taking the bottles from the pallet cases used in the turning (remuage) operation by the base and inserting them neck down in the freezing bath;
* a freezing bath in which the ice plug will form in the neck of the bottle;
* a returning system for removing the bottles from the bath and placing them upright on a moving belt;
* a dégorgeuse, which is in fact a special kind of uncapper;
* a doseuse to add the liqueur d'expédition (a dose that is added before the bottles are sealed for the final time). The doseuse consists of an "emptying spout" that creates the necessary space in the bottle, a dosage spout, and a spout for correcting the final level;
* a corking machine;
* a machine for attaching the wire cage;
* a turning device to evenly distribute the liqueur d'expédition;
* a palletizing system to put the battles back into pallet cases for labelling.
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