Lees Aging & Dosage

The law requires at least nine months on the lees for a Sekt to be sold as traditionally bottle-fermented or as Winzersekt. That time must run uninterrupted at the same estate. Schloss Wackerbarth describes a lees aging of several months for its Sekts, during which aroma and texture develop.

On the lees, autolysis takes place: the spent yeast cells break down and release compounds into the wine. This makes the Sekt creamier, the mousse finer, and brings out notes of bread and brioche that only extended aging can produce. The longer the Sekt rests, the more pronounced these notes become, and the less the base wine's youthful acidity stands out.

Afterward, the yeast must be removed from the bottle. To do this, each bottle is gradually turned upside down until all the sediment collects at the closure. In Radebeul, according to the house, this is done by hand, over four weeks on riddling racks. During disgorgement, the pressure forces the plug of yeast sediment out; the bottle is briefly topped up and resealed.

What tops it up is the dosage liqueur, a blend of wine and sugar that determines the sweetness level. Brut has under 12 g/l sugar, Extra Dry between 12 and 17, Trocken (dry) between 17 and 32, Halbtrocken (off-dry) between 32 and 50, and Mild (sweet) over 50. Below 3 g/l with no added sugar, the Sekt is called Brut Nature.

So Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut, and 'Trocken' (dry) in Sekt terms is sweeter than either. An acid-driven Elbe Valley base wine can carry more dosage without tasting sweet — a principle that applies to all sparkling wines.