Traditional method: Pressing and yield

Pressing is the first operation defined in detail by the traditional method, which understandably differentiates rigorously between the fractions of juice from each press load, for the first juice to emerge from the press is highest in sugar and acidity and lowest in phenolics, including pigments. A maximum extraction rate is usually defined in any regulations concerning sparkling wine production (such as those for France’s crémants). Those who produce traditional method sparkling wine acknowledge that the first juice to emerge from the press is generally the best, even if there is a certain amount of vintage variation. From 1992, the permitted extraction rate for champagne was reduced so that 160 kg (350 lb) of grapes rather than 150 kg of grapes were required to produce 102 l (27 gal) of wine, about the same extraction rate as that used by producers of top-quality sparkling wine anywhere in the world. (This compares with an approximate average extraction rate of 100 l of wine from about 130 kg of grapes for still red wines; see yield.)