Wine Word of the Week: Transversage



By Kori ~ December 28th, 2010.

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is transversage.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Transversage is an occasional twist on the traditional method [of sparkling winemaking] whereby, immediately after disgorgement, the contents of bottles of sparkling wine made by the traditional method are transferred into a pressure tank to which the dosage is added before the wine is bottled, typically in another (often small) size of bottle, under pressure. This is how many half bottles, all airline ‘splits’ or quarter-bottles, and virtually all bottle sizes above a jeroboam of champagne are filled.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Transversage is the process by which small- and large-format bottles of sparkling wine are filled. Using the traditional method of sparkling winemaking, standard 750ml bottles are riddled and then disgorged into a pressurized tank. Dosage is added and then the sparkling wine is transferred into other size bottles.


Filed under: Wine Word of the Week

Reader's Comments

  1. Justin | January 2nd, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    Now THAT is an interesting wine word.