Riddling & Disgorging
At the end of the maturation period, the yeast 'lees' sediment, which has remained inside the bottle since the secondary fermentation, needs to be removed via a process referred to as riddling and disgorging.
OUR SERVICES
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Riddling traditionally takes place on wooden racks where the bottle is turned by hand at a steep angle. At Kilchurn, riddling is an automated affair. The wine is transferred from storage bins into riddling cages in a horizontal position. These cages are placed onto automated riddling machines. After 7 days of rotations and elevations, all the bottles are stored vertically with the yeast lees sediment sitting in the neck of the bottle, ready for disgorging.
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Prior to the disgorging of a new batch of wine, a tasting is held with our clients and winemakers to determine the perfect liqueur d’expedition required.
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When it is time for the wine to be disgorged the bottles will travel through the Champagel neck freezer to the Perrier disgorging Machine removing the yeast plug and then dosed with the liqueur d’expedition.
Traditional closure of cork and muselet or alternatively a modern crown seal is applied before labelling and packaging.