Dégorgement

Dégorgement meaning in Champagne and sparkling wine

Dégorgement is the sparkling-wine step that removes the frozen sediment plug from the neck of a bottle after riddling (remuage). It is used in traditional-method sparkling wines, including Champagne, after secondary fermentation and lees aging have left yeast sediment inside the bottle.

During dégorgement, the bottle neck is chilled so the sediment forms an ice plug. When the bottle is opened, internal pressure expels the plug; the producer then adds dosage if needed and seals the bottle with its final cork. Dégorgement is not the same as riddling: riddling moves sediment into the neck, while dégorgement removes it.

What does it mean to degorge Champagne?

To degorge (the English verb form of dégorgement) Champagne means to remove the frozen plug of dead yeast cells from the neck of the bottle after secondary fermentation and aging are complete.