Where do the Cremant bubbles come from?

We explore this topic in this episodeof EXTRA BRUT, oureducational web series about wine, with food and wine critic Nicolas Rieffel. The goal: to answer in record time all the questions you've ever asked yourself about wine...

Answers provided by the "Chasseurs de Lune" (Moon Hunters), members and employees of the Bestheim winery.

How is Crémant d'Alsace made?

Crémant d'Alsace, like any other wine, is made from grapes that are pressed and then stored under specific conditions to allow fermentation to take place, which transforms the grapes into alcohol.

Once the wine has been bottled and a liqueur containing sugar and yeast has been added, the bottles are stored horizontally on racks in a cellar at a temperature of 11-12°C. The yeast introduced into the bottle breaks down the sugar, producing carbon dioxide ( CO2). This is the second fermentation in the bottle, known as the "prise de mousse" or "second fermentation." And this is when our famous bubbles appear!

Until now, following the fermentation reaction, this carbon dioxide is dissolved in the liquid (which in this case is our Crémant d'Alsace). But these CO2 molecules have only one thing in mind: to escape and return to their gaseous state, which they will do as soon as they are no longer contained in a hermetically sealed container. In other words, as soon as the bottle is opened! At the same time , we notice that if the cork pops out when we open the bottle, it is also due to the pressure caused by this dissolved gas escaping.

How do bubbles form in a glass of Crémant d'Alsace?

The essential condition for bubbles to appear in your glass is the presence of particles on the inner walls of the glass, such as a textile fiber or a rough spot. These "small defects" trap pockets of gas, which are then released to form a string of bubbles in your flute. So, to sum up, a perfectly clean glass with no rough edges would not allow you to see any bubbles in your wine.

A word of advice: for the holiday season, forget about putting a silver spoon in the neck of the bottle to keep the bubbles in—it's just a myth! Instead, use a special Crémant stopper that will prevent the fine bubbles from escaping once the bottle is opened!

When was the Crémant d'Alsace production process invented?

The history of Crémant d'Alsace began just before the start of the First World War. Tempted by the German market (of which Alsace was a part), the "Maisons de Champagne" began producing sparkling wines in Alsace to avoid customs barriers.

At the same time, Julien Dopff in Riquewhir was testing the Champagne method of secondary fermentation in the bottle on part of his vineyard. He had discovered this method at the 1900 World's Fair and, after an internship in Épernay, invented "Champagne d'Alsace." But after the war, French law caught up with Alsatian winegrowers, sounding the death knell for "Champagne Dopff," which was classified as a sparkling wine. In France, Champagne can only be produced in Champagne, as required by the AOC designation!

Alsace's sparkling wine had to find a new identity to escape the restrictive image of "sparkling wine." Thus, in 1974, the Dopff de Riquewihr and Sparr de Sigolsheim houses, along with the cooperative wine cellars of Eguisheim and Westhalten, founded the " the union of producers of the Champagne method in Alsace," a precursor tothe "Crémant d'Alsace" appellation, which was obtained in 1976.

Behind every glass of Crémant d'Alsace lies genuine expertise, inherited from traditional methods and refined over time by Alsatian winegrowers. The famous bubbles, the signature of this festive wine, are no accident: they are the result of a meticulously orchestrated second fermentation in the bottle. Thanks to this second fermentation and the expert eye of the Chasseurs de Lune, Crémant d'Alsace combines finesse, elegance, and tradition. So, the next time you hear the "pop" of a cork being pulled, you'll know exactly what it's celebrating: a true art form!