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Méthode champenoise, French for "Champagne method", is the secondary, inside-the-bottle fermentation that is used to create authentic Champagne and other high quality sparkling wines, as well as certain kinds of Belgian beer. The Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon is credited with first using this method. It creates the carbonation in the finest sparkling wines, but it is an expensive, labor-intensive process. Inexpensive sparkling wines are generally made by the Charmat process. With moderately priced wines being made using the transfer process, a processs by which after the second fermenation, the sparkling wine is all put in a tank, where the yeast is strained out, and the sparkling wine is put back in the bottle. Sparkling wines using the transfer process will generally be labled "fermented in the bottle" as opposed to "fermented in this bottle.
The EU has declared that this term can only be used in connection with wines from the Champagne region of France. The new EU approved term for wine made in this way from other regions is Méthode traditionnelle, French for "Traditional Method". However, méthode champenoise remains in use for wines in many non-European countries. These wines cannot be imported to the EU.
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