Dégorgement

What it is

Dégorgement (English: disgorgement) is the stage in which the yeast lees are removed from a matured Champagne bottle. It’s the last major intervention before the bottle receives its final cork and waits for the label.

How it works

After long lees ageing and riddling, the bottle stands neck-down with all the dead yeast collected into a plug just behind the crown cap. The process:

1. The neck (top five centimetres) is dipped into a brine bath at around -25 degrees Celsius. The yeast plug freezes solid in two to three minutes.
2. The bottle is righted. Internal pressure (six bars) holds everything in place.
3. The crown cap comes off. The pressure ejects the frozen plug with deposit.
4. The bottle is now clear, with a small loss of volume.
5. The wine is topped up with liqueur d’expédition (see dosage).
6. The final cork and wire cage are fitted.

By hand or by machine

Traditionally by hand, by a dégorgeur à la volée: no brine, in a single rapid motion from the hand. Takes years of experience to master. Today almost everywhere mechanised: brine + automatic opening + topping-up on a line. Krug Clos d’Ambonnay and some growers still do it by hand.

Recent or not

Many leading houses now print the dégorgement date on the back label. The reason: after dégorgement a new phase begins. The wine meets oxygen for the first time through the cork. Champagne then develops fairly quickly: a bottle disgorged 3 to 12 months ago tastes different from the same wine three years out.

For the drinker

Ask a good wine merchant or in a restaurant for the dégorgement date, especially for prestige cuvées. For best balance: let the bottle rest at least six months after dégorgement before opening.