Production and the Method Champeniose

Champagne. It christens ships. an ideal area for growing grapes. and taste to every bottle of Korbel Toasts love. Celebrates happiness. Here the yield grapes . Harmonizes with food. No other high in acidity, which is a valuable beverage is more versatile, fun or and desirable attribute for Blending And Liqueur intriguing. champagne grapes. De Tirage

Champagne owes all of its Before all of the magic of the superlative attributes to its unique second fermentation can begin, a critical and challenging process characteristic -- bubbles! Bubbles As late summer stretches into fall, are key to the quality of the must take place: the blending of Korbel begins harvesting its the still to create a cuvée. champagne. Although there are champagne grapes -- primarily several methods used to make The cuvée resulting from the , , Chenin blending process, or l’assemblage, sparkling wines -- wines with Blanc and . Grapes are bubbles -- there is only one is bottled with a precisely hand-picked -- just as the measured amount of liqueur de method that world class producers Korbels did 125 years ago -- when use to make fine champagne: tirage, a solution of sugar and their “brix,” or sugar content, has yeast. Every bottle of Korbel méthode champenoise. reached 18-20 degrees. champagne is created with special proprietary yeast strains used The méthode champenoise (may- After the grapes are crushed, only tud shom-pun-woz) is the only exclusively by Korbel. It is the free run juice of the first press important to add the precise process that Korbel has used in its is used for Korbel . 125 years of champagne-making. amount of liqueur de tirage to The process takes 45 seconds from achieve the desired effervescence French for “champagne method” skins to grape juice or “must.” classic méthode champenoise is in each bottle of Korbel. Too much This quality-control step ensures liqueur de tirage and the bottle the traditional champagne-making freshness and keeps the must from process developed by winemakers explodes; too little and the picking up unwanted color from red champagne is flat. in the Champagne region of France grapes. The must is stored in during the 1700’s and 1800’s. cooled tanks as soon as possible to avoid oxidation. The first or Méthode champenoise champagnes primary fermentation takes place in are those sparkling wines produced these temperature-controlled with the second fermentation tanks. taking place in the bottle (when the bubbles form), followed by a long, After this first fermentation is intensive process to rid the of complete, the wine is clarified and yeast sediment before final corking. then aged in either or stainless Excellent champagne, however, steel. During the clarifying time, begins long before a single drop of the wine undergoes “racking,” a wine is produced. natural clarification that removes sediment by transferring the wine Quality In The Vineyards from one cask to another until it is judged by Korbel’s champagne “The method champenoise is Korbel’s vineyards lie along the master to be a fine still wine. At the only process that Korbel sloping hills of Sonoma County in Korbel, a percentage of the wine has used in its 125 years of California’s Russian River Valley. from each harvest is held back and champagne making.” Its sandy soil, foggy mornings and blended with the following year’s long, warm growing season make it wine to lend consistency of quality

Production continued...

Méthode Champenoise These racks gently vibrate the bottles in their cases for one hour, four times

a day. During this period of The secret to the perfect, pinpoint vibration, the cases are gently rocked bubbles seen in every glass of Korbel every two minutes, which eventually champagne is the méthode works the yeast down into the neck champenoise. The exacting steps of of the bottle. Thus, the process of this seemingly magical process begin riddling is carried out with great as the still wines undergo a second precision and consistent quality is fermentation. Because the second ensured. fermentation takes place in the same

Korbel bottle that will be opened and enjoyed, the carbon dioxide becomes Disgorging, Dosaging well integrated with the wine. This and Finishing process produces smaller bubbles that rise more slowly and last longer After riddling, the bottles are than those in champagnes produced delicately dipped, neck down, into a by other methods. Remember, the brine solution at zero degrees. This smaller the bubbles, the finer the Riddling freezes the dead yeast into a plug. champagne! The bottles are placed upright and After the second fermentation, Korbel their temporary caps are removed. Two other methods are used to champagnes are aged on the yeast The pressure in the bottle is just create sparkling wines: the transfer for up to four years, depending on enough to push out the yeast plug method and the Charmat process. the cuvée style. The bottles are without losing any significant amount Both methods, however, are arranged in special automated racks of champagne. considered less exacting than for the process of riddling, or méthode champenoise because of the remuage, which brings the dead A mixture of sugar and wine is added way the wine is handled during and/ yeast down to the necks of the -- liqueur d’expédition --to replace or after the second fermentation. bottles so that it can be removed. liquid lost during disgorging and Unlike méthode champenoise, the bring the sweetness of the Korbel transfer method transfers the wine to In the past, riddling was done by champagne up to a desired level. large tanks for filtering after second hand at -- a costly, time- This process is called dosage. After fermentation in the bottle. Sparkling consuming method that left the dosage, each bottle is corked. At wines produced by the Charmat champagne’s quality vulnerable to Korbel, this entire process takes only process are fermented in large tanks the imprecision of the human hand. 25 seconds, allowing the product an six to eight weeks. Soon after that, absolute minimum exposure to air. the yeast is filtered out and the champagne is put into bottles. During riddling, the bottles were Korbel champagnes are held at the slowly tipped down to a vertical position over a period of four to five for one month after corking to

weeks and slightly turned once each allow the cork to soften and the day to work the sediment down to liqueur d’expédition to blend the cap. thoroughly.

In 1966, Adolf Heck invented and Korbel Méthode patented the first automatic riddling Champenoise Champagnes machine. Korbel has continued to improve upon Adolf’s idea, and today All Korbel champagnes are produced the winery has a highly specialized using the méthode champenoise riddling, bottling and packaging process and are proudly labeled with production flow that produces a the designation “Fermented in THIS champagne of consistent high bottle.” Sparkling wines and quality. At Korbel, the bottled cuvées champagnes produced by the less are placed upside down in shipping quality-oriented transfer method and cases that are arranged on automatic Charmat process are labeled riddling racks. “Fermented in The bottle” and “Bulk Method” respectively.