Glossary · Fermentation
Traditional method
Also written méthode traditionnelle, méthode champenoise. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
Sparkling production in which a base cider is bottled with sugar and yeast, refermented under crown or cork, matured on its lees, then riddled, disgorged and topped up with a dosage before final closure.
- Subject
- Fermentation
- Also written
- méthode traditionnelle, méthode champenoise
In more detail
The distinguishing feature against simple bottle conditioning is the removal of the deposit. Riddling gathers the lees into the neck, the neck is frozen, and the plug of sediment is expelled by the bottle’s own pressure. The bottle is then topped up, which is the point at which sweetness is adjusted.
The phrase méthode champenoise may not lawfully be used on products outside the Champagne appellation in the European Union and United Kingdom, which is why cider labels use "traditional method" or the national equivalent.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Production
Traditional method
A second fermentation in the bottle the cider will be sold in, followed by riddling the deposit into the neck and expelling it, so the drink is both bottle-fermented and clear.
Style
Sidra espumosa
Sparkling Asturian cider made by a second fermentation under pressure or in bottle, presented as a fine sparkling drink rather than in the still poured tradition.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Fermentation
Disgorging
Expelling the frozen plug of yeast sediment from the neck of a bottle-fermented cider, so that the finished drink is clear. The bottle is immediately topped up and closed.
Fermentation
Dosage
The measured liquid — cider, juice, or a sugar solution — added after disgorging to replace what was expelled and to set the final sweetness of a sparkling cider.
Fermentation
Riddling
Gradually tilting and turning bottles so that the yeast deposit slides into the neck ready for disgorging. Done by hand on a rack or mechanically in a gyropalette.
Fermentation
Transfer method
A sparkling method in which cider is refermented in bottle but is then emptied under pressure into a tank, filtered and rebottled, avoiding riddling and disgorging.
Fermentation
Bottle conditioning
Carbonating cider by fermentation inside the sealed bottle, either from primed sugar or from sugar left over from an incomplete ferment. The yeast deposit remains unless the bottle is disgorged.
Fermentation
Sur lie
Maturing cider in contact with its fine lees rather than racking clear, so that yeast autolysis contributes body, texture and savoury character. Literally "on the lees".
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
The New Cider Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
Claude Jolicoeur, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781603584739 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against the Open Library union catalogue: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781603584739, one edition recorded. That establishes the citation points at a real book in a stated edition, which is what a citation needs and is all it establishes. No copy was opened and nothing is quoted from it. The book itself is in print and not digitised in any open collection; where CiderHQ needs a figure from this territory it uses an accessible research source instead and says so.
Denominación de Origen Protegida Sidra de Asturias
Consejo Regulador de la DOP Sidra de Asturias · designation authority · passage verified 2026-08-24
The regulating council for Asturian cider. Read on 2026-08-24, and it turned out to carry far more than a permitted-variety list: an agronomic and technological characterisation of each admitted variety, with total acidity, total polyphenols, vigour, flowering, ripening, cropping and susceptibility to fungal disease. The characterisation is credited to SERIDA’s fruit-research programme. Two things it settles are corrections to what CiderHQ previously held: Asturias sorts cider fruit into nine technological blocks rather than five, and it publishes acidity as sulphuric acid rather than malic. The figures are transcribed into `data/trials/serida-asturias.ts` and cite this source, because this is where they were read.