Lees aging & dosage

How long must Champagne rest in the cellar? Non-vintage requires at least 15 months from bottling, of which at least 12 months must be on the lees. Vintage Champagne requires 36 months. Many houses let their bottles rest even longer than the law requires.

During this time, the yeast cells die and break down—a process called autolysis. They release compounds into the wine that taste of brioche, bread, and nuts, giving the bubbles a creamy richness. The cellars of Reims hold ample space for this: Ruinart alone reports eight kilometers of passageways. According to the Comité, the entire region holds nearly four years' worth of shipments in storage, more than a billion bottles.

After that, the yeast must be removed from the bottle. During riddling, or remuage, the bottles are placed in racks and gradually tilted steeper and turned, bit by bit, until the sediment settles in the neck. Today this is mostly done by machines, called gyropalettes, though for certain cuvées it remains handwork.

For disgorgement, the neck of the bottle is dipped into a brine at about minus 20 degrees. The yeast plug freezes, the crown cap is removed, and the pressure shoots the plug out. This may happen no earlier than twelve months after bottling.

Finally comes the dosage, a dash of wine with sugar that compensates for the loss. Brut Nature has under 3 grams of sugar per liter, Extra Brut 0 to 6, Brut under 12. Extra Dry comes in at 12 to 17 grams, making it sweeter than Brut. Sec has 17 to 32, Demi-sec 32 to 50, Doux over 50 grams.