Remuage
Remuage is from the Champagne native French term for the operation of the shaking of sparkling wine for the sparkling wine production. The shaking is used to mechanically clarify the sparkling wine during bottle fermentation . By gently shaking and swirling the bottle drops dead yeast as sediment in the bottle neck, where it then in a further step, the disgorging (draining, French dégorgement ), as custodian may be removed. Depending on the type of procedure, the shaking process can last from one day to six weeks and longer. The procedure has mainly visual and aesthetic reasons, the taste quality of the sparkling wine is not affected.
Historical development
The shaking and the associated invention of the shaking rack were essential innovations and steps in the development of champagne into a marketable sparkling wine product. As a result, for the first time optically clear champagne freed from cloudy yeast particles could be produced in larger quantities, which could be marketed better than yeast-cloudy champagnes. The process was introduced in 1813 by cellar master Anton von Müller in the Barbe-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin champagne company in Reims . Until the end of the 20th century, the method of classic bottle fermentation was carried out by hand shaking in shaking racks or shaking panels (French: pupitres ). It was a costly and time consuming process. A worker who specialized in vibrating was called a vibrator (French: remueur ). In the 1970s, a program- controlled , automatically vibrating system was developed in Spain for industrial cava production, which is known as a Gyropalette or Girasol . The process has been used in the sparkling wine industry worldwide since the 1980s.
Manual shaking
On the first day the bottles, closed with a crown cap , are almost horizontal, slightly inclined towards the crown cap. After loading the racks, the bottles usually rest for 8 to 10 days so that the sediment of the wine can settle. Before the actual shaking, it is checked whether the sediment has settled well. A weak light source is used for this. The Tyndall effect makes it possible to make out the finest turbid particles that are still in suspension. In the following first two weeks of shaking, the bottles are left at the same angle and rotated a tenth of a turn every day. After turning ten times, the sediment is removed from the bottle wall. Further shaking takes place every 2–3 days, depending on the manufacturer, with a 1/8, 1/6 or 1/4 turn. As soon as the bottle has reached a full lap, it is placed one level higher in the vibrating rack, level by level, until it is finally on the top, steepest level of the rack and is therefore upside down. The yeast, which was added to the bottle fermentation by the filling dosage , gradually sinks into the bottle neck and forms a yeast plug. In the next step during disgorging, this is initially frozen by means of a cold bath. Then the upside down bottle is opened by removing the crown cap. The small yeast plug escapes completely and takes all of the yeast out of the bottle. The sparkling wine remaining in the bottle is optically clear.
An experienced jogger handles around 40,000 to 50,000 bottles a day. But manual shaking is time-consuming and costly. The process can take over six weeks per bottle.
The shaking times mentioned in this article refer to the yeasts commonly used in the past. Modern sparkling wine yeasts are so-called agglutinating (clumping) yeasts, which form a rather granular deposit (in contrast to other rather slimy yeasts), do not adhere so strongly to the inner wall of the glass bottle and can therefore be shaken off more quickly. With repeated shaking per day, the shaking time can be shortened to a week to 10 days.
Vibrating additives
The shaking time can be shortened by adding special yeast and shaking additives. Two alternative methods are used:
- Yeast capsules: The yeast is enclosed in small calcium alginate capsules that are added to the base wine in the bottle. The yeast cannot escape from the capsule, at the same time sugar and nutrients get inside, carbon dioxide (carbonic acid), alcohol and other metabolic products of the yeast get outside. A secondary fermentation takes place. The shaking can be shortened to a few seconds, as the small capsules sink directly into the neck of the upside-down bottle. They can be easily removed when disgorging.
- Yeast cartridge: There is a small cartridge in the base wine in the bottle, which is filled with yeast and sealed with a membrane. Sugar and nutrients from the base wine get through the membrane into the cartridge to the yeast. A second fermentation takes place. The carbon dioxide escapes from the cartridge, but the yeast remains in it. When disgorging, only the crown cap is removed and the overpressure causes the cartridge to shoot out of the bottle.
Automated shaking
The vibration process is carried out with a computer-controlled gyro pallet: 504 bottles are placed in metal boxes. The machine then shakes the bottles at regular intervals, which can also be done at night. At the same time, the bottles are swiveled from the horizontal to the vertical until they are upside down and can then be disgorged. The shaking process can be shortened to three days, with shaking additives it goes even faster.
literature
- Hugh Johnson : Hugh Johnson's Wine Story. From Dionysus to Rothschild. (Original title: The Story of Wine. Translated by Wolfgang Kissel, Reinhard Ferstl). Hallwag , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7742-7236-0 , pp. 117, 178.
- Gerhard Troost , Hans Peter Bach, Otto H. Rhein: Sekt, sparkling wine, sparkling wine. In: Handbook of Food Technology. 3rd, completely revised edition. Volume 14, Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2010, ISBN 978-3-8001-6412-7 .
- Simon Siegel, Sieglinde Siegel, Heinz Lenger, Hans Stickler: wines, sparkling wines, mixed wines. Trauner, Linz 2004, ISBN 3-85487-613-0 , p. 989.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jancis Robinson: The Oxford Wine Lexicon. Hallwag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7742-0914-6 , p. 609 f.
- ↑ a b c d e f Jancis Robinson: The Oxford Wine Lexicon. Hallwag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7742-0914-6 , pp. 658-661.
- ↑ Jancis Robinson: The Oxford Wine Lexicon. Hallwag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7742-0914-6 , pp. 138, 799.