Transfer method

Transfer method meaning in sparkling wine

The transfer method is a sparkling-wine process in which second fermentation occurs in bottles, but the wine does not remain in each original bottle through sale. After fermentation and any chosen lees time, the bottles are emptied into a pressure tank by isobaric transfer. The pooled wine can be clarified or filtered, adjusted, and rebottled under pressure.

This separates transfer method from the traditional method, which handles sediment in each final sale bottle, and from the tank method, which conducts the bubble-making fermentation in a pressure tank from the start. OIV uses transvasage for the broader operation of moving sparkling wine isobarically from one wine container to another; label rules may apply a narrower production-method meaning.

Bottle fermentation does not make the finished wine taste identical to a traditional-method wine, and pooling does not make it taste identical to a tank-fermented wine. Base wine, yeast, lees time, pressure, filtration, dosage, and producer decisions still matter. Compare all routes in the sparkling wine methods guide.