> The champagne glossary: brut nature, disgorgement, blanc de blancs, dosage, riddling, prise de mousse… all the definitions clearly explained. *Source : https://champagne-discovery-tours.com/en/glossaire/* --- Champagne wine tourism · Reims — Épernay — Côte des Bar Book your tours & tastings [Home](https://champagne-discovery-tours.com/en/) › Glossary Glossary # Champagne vocabulary From blending to reserve wine: 30 terms defined simply so you can read a label and follow a cellar tour. Ageing on lees The period when bottles rest horizontally in the cellar during the prise de mousse and autolysis (a minimum of 15 months, 3 years for a vintage). Autolysis The breakdown of dead yeast during ageing on the lees, which gives champagne its notes of brioche and toasted bread. Blanc de blancs Champagne made exclusively from white grapes, almost always Chardonnay. Blanc de noirs White champagne made solely from black grapes (Pinot noir and/or Pinot Meunier) vinified without maceration. Blending (Assemblage) The art of marrying different wines (grape varieties, crus, years) to compose a cuvée with a consistent style unique to each house. Brut The common dosage level: fewer than 12 grams of sugar per litre. The most widespread style. Brut nature Champagne with no added sugar (0 to 3 g/L), also called "zero dosage" or "non-dosé". Chalk cellars (crayères) Former chalk quarries dug from Gallo-Roman times onward, used as ageing cellars in Reims. Coteaux Champenois The appellation for the still (non-sparkling) wines of the Champagne region — red, white or rosé. Cru A wine-growing village classified according to the cru scale. A distinction is made between Grands Crus and Premiers Crus. Cru scale A former classification of Champagne villages by percentage, used to set the price of grapes. The basis for the Grand Cru and Premier Cru designations. Disgorgement The expulsion of the yeast deposit that has collected in the neck of the bottle, now carried out after freezing the neck. Dosage The addition of the dosage liqueur after disgorgement, which sets the final sugar level (from brut nature to doux). Dosage liqueur A mixture of wine and sugar added at dosage, after disgorgement, to adjust the final style. Effervescence The fine bubbles of carbon dioxide born of the second fermentation in bottle — champagne's signature. Grand Cru A designation reserved for grapes from the 17 villages classified at the top of the cru scale. Grower-producer (RM) A winegrower who makes champagne from their own grapes, from pressing through to marketing. Merchant-producer (NM) A producer (often a major house) permitted to buy grapes or musts to make its champagne. Non-vintage A champagne blended from several years (labelled "brut sans année" / NV), ensuring a house's consistent style. Premier Cru A designation for grapes from the 42 villages classified just below the Grands Crus. Prestige cuvée A house's top-tier champagne, made from the finest grapes (e.g. Dom Pérignon, Cristal, La Grande Dame). Prise de mousse The second fermentation in bottle that produces the carbon dioxide, and therefore the bubbles, of champagne. Reserve wine Wine from earlier years kept to be blended into future cuvées and maintain a house's style. Riddling The operation — manual on a rack or automated by gyropalette — that gathers the deposit in the neck of the bottle. Riddling rack A slanted wooden rack used to slide the deposit toward the neck of the bottle before disgorgement. Rosé Champagne obtained by adding red wine (blended rosé) or by a short maceration of the skins (saignée rosé). Sabrage The spectacular opening of a bottle with a sabre, severing the neck with a stroke along the seam of the glass. Tirage liqueur A mixture of wine, sugar and yeast added at bottling to trigger the second fermentation (prise de mousse). Traditional method The production process using a second fermentation in bottle. In Champagne it is called the "méthode champenoise", a term reserved for the appellation. Vintage Champagne from a single harvest year, produced only in the best years and aged for longer.