Well before our Bailly Lapierre Crémants appear in your glass, they will already have a long tale to tell...

THE GRAPES ARRIVE AT THE WINERY
The quality of our Crémants depends above all on the patient, year-long efforts of our winegrowers in the vineyards. So harvest time comes as a key moment in the yearly cycle. The bunches, picked by hand, will already have undergone a selection (sorting) in the vineyards prior to their being carefully transported to the winery in small, open-sided crates marked with the individual winegrower’s name. Thus, superb grapes, whole bunches intact, line up for the press. On reception, each crate is weighed and the quality of the berries assessed. From this information, each crate is emptied into the designated hopper and the grapes, still intact on the bunches, channelled to the corresponding press.

PRESS
Our presses were entirely replaced in 2007 so that now the Bailly Lapierre winery is equipped throughout with airbag presses that ensure the gentlest pressing. Below the flight of presses, the different juices are kept apart: the cuvée (which is the juice from the initial pressing, some 2/3 of press volume) is run into separate tanks from the subsequent pressing, or taille. We have four presses with different capacities: a 6-tonne press, an 8-tonne press and two of 12 tonnes each. Thanks to these installations that fit our needs perfectly, we can press an average 250 tonnes a day, with each press devoted to a single grape variety. Thus the harvest is handled without delay and the aromatic potential wholly preserved. Furthermore, this equipment enables us to keep available the wealth of expressions, both of terroirs and grape varieties, right up to the time of blending.

VINIFYING THE BASE WINES (BY THE TRADITIONAL METHOD)
Our vat house contains tanks perfectly adapted to keeping the juices apart as desired. Our Crémants are made according to the traditional method, the same one used for making Champagne. It is a long process and each step demands rigour and precision. The first stage is the vinification of a still (i.e. non-sparkling) wine that will become the base wine. After the yeast fermentation (transformation of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide), the base wines undergo a malolactic fermentation (conversion of malic acid into softer lactic acid) which refines the aromas and stabilises the wines so that the prise de mousse –acquiring the carbonated bubbles- can take place in ideal conditions. Blending (carried out in winter) is a crucial stage during which the various terroirs and grape varieties are matched together in ultimate harmony. In our cellars, this delicate operation is done by a commission led by our enologist.

PRISE DE MOUSSE AND MATURING ON THE RACKS
Once blended, the wine is run off and then chilled right down to ensure its stability. Then, at the very moment it is bottled, the wine receives additional liqueur de tirage (grape sugar) and a yeast primer (yeast in full fermentation). Bottling takes place from the beginning of winter and goes on until the end of spring. It is only once the wine is in the bottle that the second yeast fermentation, known as the prise de mousse, takes place. At this stage, the closure on the bottle is an airtight stopper that is able to resist the pressure created by this second transformation of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Once this prise de mousse is over, meaning when the fermentation in the bottle finally stops after the yeast has consumed all the additional sugar and the resulting carbonated bubbles are trapped in the wine, the maturing stage begins. In the unvarying coolness and half-light of our underground cellars, our Cellarmaster keeps watch over the bottles on their racks...

REMUAGE AND dosage
Remuage is the last stage. Nowadays, it is done using special bins placed on a rotating base, ensuring that the requisite slight turning movement is kept regular and automatic. By this means, the yeast deposit that forms in the neck of the bottles placed upside down in the racks is gradually moved « towards the exit ». The deposit is removed by a technique known in French as dégorgement: just the neck of the bottle is frozen and a lump of ice forms there, enclosing the sediment. When the capsule is undone, the ice cube is expelled. The volume of wine lost in the cube must, of course, be made good and so, along with a variable dose of grape sugar known as the liqueur d’expédition (or liqueur de dosage), the bottle is topped up with the same wine reserved for the purpose. It is the dose of grape sugar that determines the type of sparkling wine: extra-brut, brut, extra-dry or demi-sec. The dose of sugar for each vat of wine is determined previously by tasting. Once the dose has been added, the bottle is fitted with its final cork (to replace the stopper that was used during the prise de mousse and maturing stages). A wire muzzle like a minute cage is placed over the cork and tightened under the lip of the rim to ensure the cork stays in place. After the addition of the liqueur d’expédition (or de dosage), with its varying degree of sweetness, the bottle is laid down in the cellars for a few months longer to refine the wine yet more.