The Wine Knows

So what vintage is that "nonvintage" bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle sparkling wine cooling in your fridge for Monday night? That depends, but if you purchased it recently, it's probably from the 2004 or 2005 vintages. Here's how that works out, according to Rick Casqueiro, who is head winemaker for the Northwest's largest bubbly maker.

As we discussed yesterday, many Champagnes are nonvintage because the winemakers in that French sparkling wine region must blend multiple vintages to maintain a "house style" that is consistent from year to year. Though most New World sparkling wine producers - especially on the West Coast - don't need to worry about ripeness and, therefore, don't back blend, they still use the "nonvintage" designation out of tradition.

To figure out what vintage of DSM you're drinking, here's the timetable for Casqueiro:

August: Harvest begins.

March: Assemblages (or blends) are created.

April: Cold stabilization is completed. Bottling tirage begins. Tirage means when the secondary fermentation begins in the bottle and the wine ages on the lees (the spent yeast).

June: Second round of tirage begins.

August: Third round of tirage begins.

Secondary fermentation takes between 12 and 16 weeks. Lees aging can last between nine and 24 months. The exception is Luxe, DSM's only vintage-dated bubbly. It will age on the lees for about five years.

After lees aging, riddling will begin. This is the act of putting the bottle into a contraption upside-down and giving it a quarter-turn each day to allow the sediment to settle into the neck. This can take up to eight weeks. The necks then are frozen and the solid sediment is disgorged. The addition of "dosage," a sweet syrup, is added to the wine, giving it its final balance.

The bottle is corked and aged an additional two to three months before being shipped to the distributor.

Between January and July, Casqueiro disgorges more wine than can be shipped to distributors, allowing him to build up his inventory for the holidays. Between August and December each year, shipments outpace Casqueiro's disgorging capacities. By Dec. 31, his warehouse is empty.

Thus, the DSMs you purchased this year are from the 2004 and 2005 vintages.

From the 2007 vintage, those sparkling wines on a nine-month aging cycle will be released in July 2009; those on the 12-month aging cycle will be in the market in October 2009; those on the 18-month aging cycle will be available in April 2010; and those on the 24-month aging cycle will come out in October 2010. The 2007 Luxe will be available for sale in February 2015.