The Two Ages of Champagne, part 1

The two ages of champagne – part 1. Ageing on lees Much like we humans who go through different periods of life: youth, middle age and older years, there are different periods in the life of a bottle of champagne. Two important stages are called ‘ageing on lees’ and ‘bottle ageing’ . An understanding of what happens during each of these phases and how they affect the champagne can be useful when you’re buying a bottle and when you’re deciding on the right moment to drink it. Ageing on lees refers to the time after the various wines have been blended by the champagne maker and put into bottles. Before the bottles are sealed a small amount of yeast and a small measure of sugar are added to produce the second fermentation inside the bottle during which the yeast cells are consumed by the fermentation and sink to the underside of the bottle where they form a sediment known as ‘the lees’. At this stage, the bottles are sealed not with a cork but with a standard crown cap of the type that is

by jiles@mymaninchampagne.com (Jiles Halling) · source ↗