Sparkling wine – “the knighted wine”

Sparkling wine has been produced in Hochheim for nearly 200 years.
But how do you turn wine into sparkling wine?

Sparkling wine is an effervescent or bubbly wine. Adding sugar and yeast to the base wine triggers a second fermentation. The conversion of sugar to alcohol produces carbon dioxide, which lets the wine effervesce or bubble.

The original method is the classic or traditional bottle fermentation (méthode champenoise). Sugar and yeast are added to the bottled wine, which is then capped with a crown cap. To produce sparkling wine the bottles must be stored for at least 9 months.

The remaining yeast (lees) in the sparkling wine is pushed into the bottle-neck by riddling on special racks. When the bottle is disgorged the lees shoots out of the bottle-neck. Then the bottle is sealed with a cork. Today this procedure is reserved for special sparkling wines: vintage  sparkling wines,  sparkling wines from a declared vineyard and sparkling wines from a declared wine-grower.

After WWII, tank fermentation was introduced to the sparkling wine production process. The base wine is fermented in large pressure tanks. Before bottling the sparkling wine, the yeast is filtered out of the finished product. Storage time is reduced to 6 months. The more economical tank fermentation process enabled producers to meet the growing demand for sparkling wine.

A third method of producing sparkling wine is the so-called transfer method, also known as bottle fermentation. Just like in the méthode champenoise, the fermentation takes place in special fermentation bottles. After fermentation the sparkling wine is filtered under pressure and transferred into new bottles for sale.

Sparkling wine from Hochheim – a tradition going back over 180 years

1832 after completing his apprenticeship with his uncle in Reims at the Champagne company Cliquot, Ignatz Schweickhardt began fermenting wine from Hochheim using the méthode champenoise.

1836 Johann Burgeff joins the venture; together they found the sparkling wine company Schweickhardt & Burgeff

1857 Burgeff runs the business on his own. „Sparkling Hock“ is world-famous and is more expensive than champagne.

Around 1900 Hochheim boasts 7 sparkling wine producers and they are major contributors to the  economic power of the town. Burgeff calls itself the “oldest and biggest sparkling wine producer along the Rhine”.

After 1945 one sparkling wine company after another closes its gates for ever.

1993 the wine estate Schreiber founds a new sparkling wine company. Schreiber is the only  sparkling wine company in Hochheim that uses the méthode champenoise.