Metodo classico

Also called "champagne method" or "méthode champenoise" and refers to the natural second fermentation that takes place in the bottle in which the wine has been stored a certain number of months, typically 15 months, with dead yeast cells.

Let's take a brief look at the joyous process:

1. The starting point is when a quiet wine is poured in a particularly strong bottle that can withstand the high pressure, as the wine develops later. Then, sugar and yeast are added to the wine, so the so-called second fermentation in the well sealed bottle can begin.
2. As fermentation progresses, live yeast reacts with the sugar and thus produces alcohol. In addition to alcohol, carbon dioxide is also produced, which is important for the bubbles.
3. When the bottle is sealed, the gas can obviously not escape. It is therefore fermentation that takes place in the bottle which translates as bubbles, the pressure approaching 80-90psi, which is actually 20 times greater than the pressure in a conventional bicycle tire.
4. Next, the now sparkling wine lies still for some time, typically 15 months. During this process the bottle is rotated regularly, while gradually poured to the end closest to stand on the head with the cap / seal downwardly so that any remaining yeast cells and precipitate collect there. It is a big job, which takes 6-8 weeks, and many still perform it manually. To keep prices down, several producers use the automated process, but clearly there is greater prestige in the manual model.
5. When the precipitate is collected, the head of the bottle is frozen, so the sediment can be removed without the rest of the sparkling wine running out.
6. Currently, the wine has all of the sugar, or at least the most part, eliminated, therefore, adding a balanced amount of sugar will determine how dry or sweet the end product should be.
7. Allora, the big moment has now come when the cork is inserted, and we hereby have a bottle of Spumante (or Champagne) in front of us.

Metodo classico is used also for the sparkling Franciacorta DOCG.