What is the name of Champagne’s traditional second-fermentation method?

Champagne’s traditional second-fermentation method is called méthode champenoise.

In this process, a still base wine is bottled with a mixture of sugar and yeast called the liqueur de tirage. The yeast ferments the added sugar inside the sealed bottle, producing carbon dioxide that dissolves into the wine and creates its bubbles. This second fermentation also produces yeast sediment.

Producers then age the bottles on their lees, or spent yeast cells. During riddling, the sediment is moved toward the neck. Disgorgement removes it, and a dosage of wine and sugar adjusts the final style before the bottle is corked and secured with a wire cage.

The term méthode champenoise is legally reserved for Champagne in many contexts. Producers elsewhere generally use “traditional method” or méthode traditionnelle, even when the winemaking steps are closely related.