Winemaking
The transfer method
Second fermentation in bottle, then emptying all the bottles into a tank to filter — used mainly for very large and very small formats.
The short answer
The transfer method carries out the second fermentation in bottle, exactly as the traditional method does, then empties the bottles under pressure into a tank, filters the wine and rebottles it. It avoids riddling and disgorgement while retaining bottle-fermented lees character.
Overview
It is the least discussed of the sparkling methods and has a specific practical purpose.
Riddling and disgorging a quarter-bottle or a Methuselah is impractical, so many houses ferment in standard bottles and transfer into the awkward formats.
How it works
The mechanism, at the scope it has actually been established.
Tirage, second fermentation and lees ageing proceed as in the traditional method, so autolytic character develops normally.
The bottles are then chilled and emptied into a pressurised tank, the wine is filtered to remove the lees, dosage is added, and it is rebottled under counter-pressure.
The advantage is consistency: every bottle in a batch is identical, because they were blended together before rebottling.
The cost is the filtration, which some argue strips a degree of texture, and the loss of the individual bottle-ageing character disgorgement dates are prized for.
Labelling varies by jurisdiction; some permit "bottle-fermented" for transfer-method wine while reserving "fermented in this bottle" for the traditional method.
Sources
Sources consulted
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- Comité Champagne — Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne
- International Code of Oenological Practices — OIV
More in winemaking
Winemaking
Fermentation
Yeast converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide — the step that makes wine wine.
Winemaking
How red wine is made
Fermenting grape juice in contact with the skins, which is where colour and tannin come from.
Winemaking
How white wine is made
Pressing the juice off the skins before fermentation, then fermenting the clear juice.