Riddling

After a bottle fermented sparkling wine has finished its fermentation and been aged for the desired time in contact with the yeast lees, dead yeast cells, the wine must be clarified prior to disgorging addition of the liqueur d’expedition and re-sealing of the bottle with a cork. Riddling or Remuage in French is the process of moving all of the dead yeast in a bottle fermented sparkling wine from the side of the bottle into the very neck of the bottle so it can then be removed through the process of disgorging.

There are two ways to riddle:

1. Manual riddling.
2. Machine riddling using Gyropallets.

The images below, courtesy of Pol Roger, show manual riddling in action. From left to right. 1. A bottle ready to be riddled, you can see the yeast on the side of the bottle. The bottle is ‘Sur Lie’ on yeast lees. 2. A riddler at work, he’ll turn 30,000 bottles a day 1/4 turn for 30 days, slowly lifting the bottles to a vertical position upside down. 3. The end result: all of the yeast lees are in the very neck of the bottle ready to be removed in the process of disgorging. The bottle is now ‘Sur Point’ on point. The whole process takes about a month.

The video below shows manual riddling in action.

Mechanical Gyropallets, by contrast, hold massive cages of fizz and rotate them more frequently. They are capable of riddling a bottle in 7-10 days.