French term (German: Rütteln) for a process commonly used in the production of sparkling wine(champagne, sparkling wine) as preparation for the subsequent disgorgement (removal of the lees). The process was invented around 1813 by Antoine de Muller (1788-1859), an immigrant from Germany (Swabia) and the legendary cellar master of the famous Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin champagne house in Reims (Champagne).
Many producers are increasingly adding so-called "riddling aids" to the dosage (addition of the "liqueur de tirage") for triggering the second fermentation in the bottle, which makes it easier to precipitate the yeast deposit. This is usually a mixture of bentonite and tannin, which prevents the resulting granular deposit from sticking to the bottle glass and ensures that it slides evenly along the inside wall of the bottle. The bottles are placed with their necks in the initially very steeply positioned, roof-shaped riddling desks (riddling tables, French: pupitres) (boards with round holes have been used since ancient times for draining rinsed wine bottles). At the beginning, the shaking desks have an almost horizontal position and then become increasingly steeper (see picture). As a rule, a pupitre holds around 60 bottles of sparkling wine.
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Thomas Götz
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