There are different types of Champagne presses:
Traditional manually operated
vertical
wine presses
(28% of all presses).
Horizontal presses,
lateral membrane presses,
presses with a tilted plate
or a rotatable platen,
which are computer-controlled.
The presses range in capacity from
2,000 to 12,000 kilos
of whole grapes.
Traditional
VERTICAL presses
Automatic
LATERAL MEMBRANE presses
Horizontal hydraulic press with a
TILTED PLATE
Between every ‘marc’ (unit of measurement for a press-load of grapes), the press must be emptied and cleaned with water.
As part of the commitment to sustainable viticulture, solid residues left over after pressing are sent for distillation and 100% of all winery wastewater is treated.
Reserve wines are sometimes stored
for several decades,
in stainless steel tanks
OR IN WOODEN CASKS
They are used in most blends
apart from vintages.
Their role is to
perpetuate the style
of each cuvée year after year and
to bring to the blend
their more mature character.
Maceration and blending
are the two techniques
used to produce
rosé Champagne.
Maceration
Before pressing, destemmed black-skinned grapes
are left to macerate until the desired colour is achieved
24 to 72 hours
(depending on the year).
Blending
This involves blending ‘base’ red
and white wines from Champagne.
This is the
method used most
frequently.
The last stage before the bottle leaves the Champagne
cellars is labelling and packaging (habillage).
This
is very strictly regulated.
From the following items of information,
which must be included on the label.
Did you know?
Since 2011, Champagne producers have been using a new, lighter bottle (835 grams instead of 900 grams), enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint by 8,000 tonnes per year.