Discovery / Methodology / Making Bubbles
Meet the method · Follow your curiosity
Making Bubbles
Sparkling wine’s bubbles come from carbon dioxide held in the wine, with bottle and tank fermentation offering different routes to the finished style.
A little acquaintance, at a glance.
- The gas
- Carbon dioxide
- Traditional method
- Second fermentation in bottle
- Tank method
- Fermentation in a pressure tank
- Another route
- Ancestral method
From the cellar to your glass
A choice that shapes the wine.
Fermentation makes carbon dioxide as well as alcohol. In many still wines, that gas escapes. In sparkling production, makers can retain it under pressure so it stays dissolved in the wine until the bottle is opened and the pressure falls.
Where the fermentation happens helps shape the process. Time on yeast lees, grape variety and sweetness choices also matter. The method is a useful clue, but it does not replace tasting the wine itself.
How the method works.
Traditional method: in the bottle
A still base wine receives yeast and sugar for a second fermentation in a sealed bottle. The wine then spends time on the resulting lees. Riddling gathers the sediment toward the neck, and disgorgement removes it before final closure.
Tank method: in a larger vessel
The second fermentation takes place in a sealed pressure tank. The wine is then filtered and bottled while retaining its dissolved gas. Prosecco DOC spumante is a familiar example; the approach often supports a fresh, fruit-led expression.
Ancestral method: one fermentation continues
Wine is bottled before its initial fermentation finishes, trapping some of the remaining gas. Pét-nat commonly follows this route. Other sparkling wines can be made by adding carbon dioxide; not every sparkling wine undergoes a second fermentation.
What to notice in your glass.
Fruit and lees character
Compare fresh pear or floral notes with bread or biscuit-like character. Both fruit and maturation contribute; one aroma does not identify the entire method.
Sweetness has its own vocabulary
Brut is a sweetness category, not a production method. Extra Dry is generally sweeter than Brut in common sparkling-wine labelling, despite the everyday wording.
Bubbles need context
Glass cleanliness, temperature and the time since pouring affect what you see. Bubble size alone cannot establish method, quality or how long a wine aged.
A small Cork Dork discovery
Try a little discovery.
Compare a Brut traditional-method sparkling wine with a Brut tank-method wine in matching clean tulip glasses at similar temperatures. Notice aroma, texture and the persistence of the finish. Check production notes afterwards. The grapes and places will probably differ too, so keep the comparison exploratory.
Small pours, your own words, and no marks for impressive vocabulary.
A few questions worth uncorking.
Is all sparkling wine Champagne?
No. Champagne is a protected regional name with specific production rules. Many other places make sparkling wines using several methods.
Does every sparkling wine have two fermentations?
No. Ancestral-method wines can finish one fermentation in bottle, and some wines are carbonated. The second fermentation is characteristic of traditional and many tank-method wines.
Does traditional method always taste bready?
No. Lees time, fruit, aging and the producer’s choices influence how prominent those aromas become.
Where shall we wander next?
Sparkling Wine →Chardonnay →Pinot Noir →Willamette Valley →Wine Fermentation →Aging on the Lees →Blending Wine →People behind the wine
Follow Champagne’s cellar story through the enterprise and riddling work associated with Madame Clicquot.
Behind this introduction
Editorial sources checked 15 October 2026. Methods vary with grape, producer and intended style; tasting clues are possibilities rather than proof.