Disgorging

The operation of disgorging is a necessary procedure to remove any impurities, residues of the second fermentation in the bottle.

It consist in squeezing out from the mouth of the bottle the deposited  part along the neck to the capsule, that are for example the yeasts consumed. At this time a small amount of oxygen goes from the air into the wine which involves a subsequent maturation. The part of wine leakage is added, sometimes together with the dosed liqueur, and the bottle is then definitively stoppered  with cork and wire cage.

There are two main methods to carry out the disgorging: by freezing or “à la volée”.

In manual disgorgement, or “dégorgement à la volée”, it is expected  to open the bottle; due to the pressure of the wine, it is released exiting the residues of lees formed in the vicinity of the stopper. The cellarman shall then replace the plug in the bottle avoiding the possible leakage of the wine.

Disgorgement by freezing, or disgorgement à la glace, instead it is the practice to date the most common. The neck of the bottle is immersed in a solution of water and monopropylene glycol cooled to a temperature of -24 ° C to -25 ° C for about 10 ÷ 15 minutes.  After checking the ice formed inside the neck of the bottle, this is uncorked, expelling the icicle containing the lees. There are special machines called bottleneck freezers.

It is today's use to report on the label the disgorgement date: to stabilize the wine needs  3 to 4 months of aging after disgorgement.