Our expertise

After each harvest, Maison Veuve Amiot selects the best local wines. These wines, made mainly from the Chenin, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc grape varieties, are then blended to create the different “cuvées”.

The blended wine is added with a special liqueur composed of a mixture of sugar, wine and selected yeasts. After filling, the bottles are stored in our cellars for a period ranging from 9 months to several years.

It is in the coolness of the cellars dug in the tufa stone the second fermentation in the bottle will occur. This process consists of a transformation of the sugars added during the pressing, into carbon dioxide and alcohol.  Months of ageing at a constant temperature of 12°C-13°C allows the development to maturity of these cuvées.

After these long months of ageing, the bottles undergo a rotation combined with a gradual tilting of the bottle downwards. This technique, using gravity, makes it possible to concentrate the sediments (inactive yeasts formed during the seconds fermentation) in the neck. This technique, which previously was practiced by hand, is now performed using machines.

This delicate operation consists of plunging the neck of the bottle into a cold bath (-24°C) in order to trap the sediment in an ice cube. The bottle is then decapsulated and due to internal pressure, the ice cube is expelled.

We add the expedition liquor made from old wines and selected sugars, in varying proportions depending on the type of wine.

For brut: from 10 to 13 g/litre

For the demi-sec: from 42 to 49 g/litre

The bottles then receive their famous cork as well as their muzzle.

After this the bottles will stay in the cellar for 2 more months so that the expedition liqueur blends with the cuvée.

At the end of this long process, the bottles are finally washed and externally dried, then the label, back label, collar and cap are added. They are then ready for shipping and marketing in France as well as international markets.