I’ve sabered open a bottle of Champagne. But disgorging one? Yes, try this at home. Just follow the step-by-step that comes with Família Geisse’s Cave Amadeu Rústico Nature from southern Brazil. In sparkling wine parlance, disgorging refers to extracting the sediment, or lees, that accumulate as the wine develops. Traditionally it’s done by gradually turning the bottle upside down in a special rack, a technique called riddling. Once upended, the sediment falls into the neck of the bottle, which is then briefly frozen so when the cap is removed the frozen plug of sediment is expelled by the carbonation of the wine; the bottle is then corked. And you do not have to be in Mme. Pommery’s chalky cellar in Reims to do it. At home you leave the bottle nearly upside down for a week, then freeze it for 90 minutes, pop off the metal cap and the sediment shoots out. Mine was perfect. It’s best done outside or maybe over a bathtub. The disgorged wine is light, fizzy and pleasant. I also tried a bottle of the wine without disgorging, making it what’s called a pét-nat these days. It was cloudy but with more complexity on the palate. Disgorging is worth trying at least once, and understanding what lees contribute to the wine made it doubly worthwhile.
Família Geisse’s Cave Amadeu Rústico Nature, $22.99 for 750 milliliters, Broadway Spirits, 315 Broadway (Thomas Street), 212-227-8200, broadwayspirits.com.
