Transfer Method Sparkling Wine

The transfer method is a way of making sparkling wine in which the second fermentation and the time on lees happen in bottle, as in the traditional method. Wine Australia's 2018 sparkling wine educator guide says the transfer method aims to achieve the benefits of a second fermentation in the bottle without the complications and expense of the traditional method's riddling and disgorgement processes, and that until the riddling stage the two methods are the same. After its time on lees, the wine is removed from the bottle and transferred to a tank, filtered in bulk to remove the yeast, dosed and pumped into new bottles. The OIV's International Code of Oenological Practices defines transvasage as the isobarometric transfer of sparkling wine from one wine container to another, and its list of operations for second fermentation in bottle notes that points (f) to (j), which include riddling and disgorging, do not apply to the decanting procedure.

• Second fermentation and lees ageing take place in bottle; Wine Australia says the traditional and transfer methods are the same until the riddling stage
• Transfer to a pressurised tank replaces riddling and disgorgement
• Wine Australia's guide says a label claiming 'bottle-fermented' as opposed to 'fermented in this bottle' means the winemaker used the transfer method
• After bulk filtration the wine is dosed and pumped into new bottles (Wine Australia)

The process begins with blending base wines and adding the liqueur de tirage, a mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast that triggers the secondary fermentation in sealed bottles. A second fermentation then takes place inside the bottle, producing carbon dioxide that becomes trapped and forms the bubbles; the Comité Champagne gives the pressure inside a bottle of Champagne as 5 to 6 bar. The wine then rests on its lees in bottle, and Wine Australia says the transfer to tank comes after its time on lees. The wine is then transferred, with its sediment, to a pressurized tank. The OIV code allows transvasage at room temperature but prefers cooling first, to avoid any possible loss of carbonic gas, and lists carrying it out in the absence of air, to avoid any oxidation. The wine is filtered in bulk to remove the yeast, dosed, and pumped into new bottles; the OIV code lists isobarometric bottling among the objectives of transvasage and says the end container must be rendered inert by carbon dioxide, nitrogen or argon.

• Liqueur de tirage: a mixture of still wine, sugar and yeast added to the blended wine to start the second fermentation in bottle (Comité Champagne)
• The Comité Champagne gives the pressure inside a bottle of Champagne as 5 to 6 bar
• The transfer is isobarometric (OIV), and the wine is then filtered under pressure (Wine Spectator)
• OIV: isobarometric bottling is one objective of transvasage, and the end container must be rendered inert by carbon dioxide, nitrogen or argon

Wine Australia groups transfer method wines with traditional method wines as bottle-fermented, and says tank method wines tend to spend less time on lees than bottle-fermented sparkling wines, lending them little or no autolytic character. WSET, describing traditional method wines, says the dead yeast cells form lees that break down over time in a process known as autolysis, releasing aromas such as brioche, toast, pastry and cream, and that these flavours become more intense and complex the longer the wine remains on its lees. Wine Spectator's glossary describes the transfer as coming after the second fermentation in bottle and a short period of sur lie aging, and says transfer method wines are slightly less intense and less creamy than those produced using the more time-consuming and expensive méthode Champenoise.

• The wine is transferred to tank after its time on lees in bottle (Wine Australia)
• Autolysis aromas named by WSET: brioche, toast, pastry and cream
• WSET: the longer the wine remains on its lees, the more intense and complex these flavours become
• The wine is filtered in bulk to remove the yeast (Wine Australia)

Wine Australia's 2018 educator guide says the transfer method has been widely adopted in Australia and that the majority of Australian sparkling wine production uses it, as it is less labour-intensive yet still produces high-quality wines. The same guide lists the transfer method among the methods winemakers can use for sparkling reds, alongside the traditional, tank and carbonation methods. In Champagne the default runs the other way: the Comité Champagne says the wine cannot be transferred from one container to another and is sold in the bottle in which it underwent its second fermentation. The modifications to the Champagne specification (cahier des charges) approved by INAO's national committee on 11 September 2024 set the exception: wines sold in bottles smaller than 37.5 centilitres or larger than 150 centilitres may be transferred. Its next clause authorises transfer after the prise de mousse, within the delimited area, into bottles smaller than 75 centilitres or larger than 150 centilitres, so the two size thresholds in the text differ. Under the same Champagne text, any transfer installation must have an isobaric system working by counter-pressure and cooling that allows the wine to be filled into its final container at 5°C or below. The OIV lists the objectives of transvasage as separating wine from its lees or deposits, blending wines, physical clarification by filtration or centrifuge, tartaric stabilization by cooling, and isobarometric bottling.

• Wine Australia (2018): the majority of Australian sparkling wine production uses the transfer method
• Wine Australia lists the transfer method as one option for sparkling reds
• Champagne: transfer allowed for bottles smaller than 37.5 centilitres or larger than 150 centilitres, with a following clause naming bottles smaller than 75 centilitres or larger than 150 centilitres (modifications to the Champagne specification approved by INAO's national committee, September 2024)
• OIV objectives for transvasage include separating wine from its lees, blending, filtration and isobarometric bottling

EU law sets the production terms. Under Article 53 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, 'bottle-fermented' may be used only for sparkling wines with a protected designation of origin or a third-country geographical indication, or for quality sparkling wines, where the wine was made sparkling by a second alcoholic fermentation in a bottle, the production process lasted at least nine months, fermentation and the presence of the cuvée on the lees lasted at least 90 days, and the wine was separated from the lees by filtering in accordance with the racking method or by disgorging. The expressions 'traditional method' and 'bottle-fermented by the traditional method' require at least nine months of uninterrupted lees contact in the same undertaking and separation from the lees by disgorging. Wine Australia's guide says a wine claiming to be 'bottle-fermented' as opposed to 'fermented in this bottle' was made by the transfer method rather than the traditional method.

• EU 'bottle-fermented': at least nine months of production and at least 90 days of fermentation plus lees contact
• EU 'bottle-fermented' allows separation from the lees by filtering in accordance with the racking method
• EU 'traditional method': at least nine months on the lees without interruption, then disgorging
• Wine Australia: a label claiming 'bottle-fermented' as opposed to 'fermented in this bottle' means the transfer method rather than the traditional method

Wine Australia's guide lists five common methods for producing sparkling wine: traditional, transfer, ancestral, tank and carbonation. The traditional and transfer methods share the second fermentation and maturation on lees in bottle. The traditional method then riddles and disgorges each bottle, while the transfer method moves the wine to a tank and filters it in bulk. In the tank method, also known as the Charmat or cuve close method, the dry base wine moves to a pressurised tank for its second fermentation rather than a bottle, and Wine Australia says these wines tend to spend less time on lees than bottle-fermented sparkling wines, lending them little or no autolytic character. WSET calls Prosecco the most widely recognised tank method sparkling wine and names German Sekt made from Riesling among the tank method wines produced globally.

• Traditional method: second fermentation in bottle, riddling and disgorgement; the EU term needs at least nine months on lees without interruption
• Transfer method: second fermentation and lees ageing in bottle, then tank transfer, bulk filtration, dosage and new bottles
• Tank (Charmat) method: second fermentation in a pressurised tank, with little or no autolytic character per Wine Australia
• Wine Australia describes traditional and transfer method wines together as bottle-fermented

Primary: https://www.oiv.int/standards/international-code-of-oenological-practices/part-ii-oenological-treatments-and-practices/special-wines:-sparkling-wines/transvasage, https://www.oiv.int/standards/international-code-of-oenological-practices/part-ii-oenological-treatments-and-practices/special-wines:-sparkling-wines, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019R0033, https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/bcb47737-a5c2-4eef-b16a-5afa52029a31/AWD-Sparkling-Wines-Educator-guide.pdf?ext=.pdf, https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/how-champagne-is-made/bottling-and-second-fermentation, https://www.champagne.fr/en/champagne-frequently-asked-questions, https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCPNOChampagne20240911.pdf, https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/a-guide-to-sparkling-wine-production-methods-and-regional-styles. Secondary: https://www.winespectator.com/glossary/show/id/transfer_method. Last verified 2026-09-28