Also known as LD and ZD, these two terms appear on sparkling wine labels from Australia and France. They are often regarded as a ‘quality indicator’ but in terms of liking the wine more, that will be up to the drinker…
Late Disgorged
This term late indicates the wine has aged for an extended time on lees.
When we age sparkling wine on yeast lees in bottle, there is a series of very slow changes that occur over time. It is thought that the cell walls of the yeast start to break down after about 18 months – a process known as autolysis. This influences the wine in the bottle in a number of ways: It starts to contribute some yeasty flavours to the wine – often described as ‘brioche’ or similar. It also is thought to strengthen the bubbles – meaning that the longer the yeast ageing, the finer and more persistent the bubbles are. It also adds a creamier, more textural mouthfeel and can also create ‘length’ in the palate – which means you can taste the wine for a little while after you’ve swallowed it. All of these things are, in the wine world, considered positive attributes – but as I’ve said above, you may not prefer this type of sparkling wine. Just because a wine has spent a long time on lees doesn’t automatically mean it will be any good.
Late disgorged means that we keep the yeast lees in the bottle for longer. Often there is an earlier disgorged version – in our case, the 2013 White Label Assembly Sparkling – disgorged after 55 months on lees. The LD version was kept for almost 8 years. Its the same wine to begin with, so it’s fascinating to see how the influence of extra time changes the wine. You might imagine then that this extra time tends to push the cost up, which is why the LD options are always a little pricey.
Zero Dosage
If you’re in a hurry, zero dosage just means there is zero sugar added when we disgorge. If you’d like the details, read on…
When we disgorge the wine (take the yeast out) we leave in the bottle a nice clear wine that is ready to drink. Often though, while the cork is out, we take the opportunity to add in a little something something. This is called the ‘dosage’ as is generally a sugar-rich liquid that is designed very carefully to add some complexity to the wine and potentially smooth out some creases.
I think of sugar in wine like plaster on a rough wall. Sugar can cover up any little mishaps but also adds a lovely textural aspect, while also offering to balance out any hard acidity. It’s important to remember a couple of things about sugar in sparkling wine:
- Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you can taste it: think of lemon juice – because it’s quite acidic, you’d have to add a LOT of sugar to be able to detect sweetness. Wine is similar – thresholds are normally around 12 grams per litre to detect sugar as sweetness. We typically use about 4-5 grams per litre, which means we use sugar very sparingly, just to soften up the acidity and contribute to the mouthfeel.
- The word ‘brut’ means dry – but this is misleading. In Champagne, ‘brut’ is under 15g/L, ‘extra brut’ is under 6g/L and ‘brut nature or zero dosage’ is less than 3g/L. So you can see that even if it’s labelled brut, it could still be quite high in sugar. As a comparison, Prosecco ranges from about 8g/L through to about 25g/L for the sweeter versions. Moscato tends to sit in the 40g/L-55g/L.
The decision to add zero dosage is a way of showing the wine in its truest form. To continue the analogy above, the wall has to be pretty much perfect and without the plaster as there is nothing to hide any cracks. From a winemaking perspective, we have to be ultimately confident that the wine is balanced and delicious as it is and that the higher price tag is something that still offers value.
Our 2013 LD ZD I think is the most outstanding wine we’ve ever released…so if you’re feeling like a splurge, you can buy a bottle here.
Thanks for reading!
Clare
Also known as LD and ZD, these two terms appear on sparkling wine labels from Australia and France. They are often regarded as a ‘quality indicator’ but in terms of liking the wine more, that will be up to the drinker…
Late Disgorged
This term late indicates the wine has aged for an extended time on lees.
When we age sparkling wine on yeast lees in bottle, there is a series of very slow changes that occur over time. It is thought that the cell walls of the yeast start to break down after about 18 months – a process known as autolysis. This influences the wine in the bottle in a number of ways: It starts to contribute some yeasty flavours to the wine – often described as ‘brioche’ or similar. It also is thought to strengthen the bubbles – meaning that the longer the yeast ageing, the finer and more persistent the bubbles are. It also adds a creamier, more textural mouthfeel and can also create ‘length’ in the palate – which means you can taste the wine for a little while after you’ve swallowed it. All of these things are, in the wine world, considered positive attributes – but as I’ve said above, you may not prefer this type of sparkling wine. Just because a wine has spent a long time on lees doesn’t automatically mean it will be any good.
Late disgorged means that we keep the yeast lees in the bottle for longer. Often there is an earlier disgorged version – in our case, the 2013 White Label Assembly Sparkling – disgorged after 55 months on lees. The LD version was kept for almost 8 years. Its the same wine to begin with, so it’s fascinating to see how the influence of extra time changes the wine. You might imagine then that this extra time tends to push the cost up, which is why the LD options are always a little pricey.
Zero Dosage
If you’re in a hurry, zero dosage just means there is zero sugar added when we disgorge. If you’d like the details, read on…
When we disgorge the wine (take the yeast out) we leave in the bottle a nice clear wine that is ready to drink. Often though, while the cork is out, we take the opportunity to add in a little something something. This is called the ‘dosage’ as is generally a sugar-rich liquid that is designed very carefully to add some complexity to the wine and potentially smooth out some creases.
I think of sugar in wine like plaster on a rough wall. Sugar can cover up any little mishaps but also adds a lovely textural aspect, while also offering to balance out any hard acidity. It’s important to remember a couple of things about sugar in sparkling wine:
- Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you can taste it: think of lemon juice – because it’s quite acidic, you’d have to add a LOT of sugar to be able to detect sweetness. Wine is similar – thresholds are normally around 12 grams per litre to detect sugar as sweetness. We typically use about 4-5 grams per litre, which means we use sugar very sparingly, just to soften up the acidity and contribute to the mouthfeel.
- The word ‘brut’ means dry – but this is misleading. In Champagne, ‘brut’ is under 15g/L, ‘extra brut’ is under 6g/L and ‘brut nature or zero dosage’ is less than 3g/L. So you can see that even if it’s labelled brut, it could still be quite high in sugar. As a comparison, Prosecco ranges from about 8g/L through to about 25g/L for the sweeter versions. Moscato tends to sit in the 40g/L-55g/L.
The decision to add zero dosage is a way of showing the wine in its truest form. To continue the analogy above, the wall has to be pretty much perfect and without the plaster as there is nothing to hide any cracks. From a winemaking perspective, we have to be ultimately confident that the wine is balanced and delicious as it is and that the higher price tag is something that still offers value.
Our 2013 LD ZD I think is the most outstanding wine we’ve ever released…so if you’re feeling like a splurge, you can buy a bottle here.
Thanks for reading!
Clare