AmericanWinery.com

Known in France as méthode rurale,méthode artisnale, méthode ancestrale, or méthode gaillacois, the rural method is an old technique for making sparkling wine. It’s generally been replaced by méthode champenoise for higher-quality wines or by the Charmat process for less-expensive wines. To create effervescence using the rural method, fermentation is slowed or stopped, sometimes by chilling the must to a very cold temperature. The must is then bottled, and the fermentation process is restarted, often by warming the ­bottles. As with the méthode champenoise, the by-product of this fermentation is carbon dioxide, which creates bubbles in the bottled wine. sparkling wines produced by the rural method are often cloudy unless they undergo a filtering process. Only a few wines are still made this way, including some from the Gaillac AC and Limoux. The Clairette de Die Tradition AC uses a variation of the rural method called méthode dioise, which is unique to this appellation. This technique removes sediment by racking and filtering the wines under pressure, which eliminates the sediment while retaining as much effervescence as possible. The wines are then rebottled.