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Christie Mavety
 
October 23, 2014 | Cellar, Okanagan Life, Okanagan Wine, Wine Making Process | Christie Mavety

R.D. - Recently Disgorged

Some of you may ask, "What is R.D.?"  Well, R.D. stands for recently disgorged, a concept devised by Madame Bollinger in the early 1960s.  Take a look at the picture of the back label of our Brut Rose sparkling wine to view the disgorgement date, May 2014.  While on the front label we label it R.D. 2010 (the vintage the grapes were grown in).

 

    


Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wines goes through a primary fermentation in the tank and a second fermentation in the bottle.  Once the wine goes through its second fermentation in bottle it is left to age on its lees, the dead yeast cells.  At this time, the sparkling wine continues to age for several more years resulting in a toasty, yeasty characteristic.  

Next we need to disgorge, remove the yeast cells from the wine and then it will be ready to drink.  This is when we will date the disgorgement date on the label and it is titled R.D.

This special aging on the lees allows the wine to maintain a unique combination of freshness and liveliness, while developing delicate and complex aromas. Sparkling wines benefit from a prolonged maturation on its lees reinforcing the aromatic subtlety and complexity of the final wine.

Below is our disgorging line.  The first image shows all of the sparkling bottles with their necks down in a glycol bath.  Whereas the next image is the bottling line where the dosage is added.


     

Next time you pick up a bottle of sparkling wine please go ahead and take a look at the label and look for the disgorgment date!

Cheers!

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Christie Mavety
 
July 12, 2022 | Christie Mavety

Invite: Harvest Celebration Dinner at The Winery

Please join the Mavety family for a very special dinner hosted at the estate to celebrate the upcoming harvest. This event is exclusively for our loyal friends of Blue Mountain and their guests.  Continue »

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