🍷 Cuvée

Cuvée is a French word used in wine for a batch or blend of wine and, in Champagne, also for the first fraction of the pressed juice.

In sparkling wine production the OIV International Code of Oenological Practices defines the cuvée as the product destined for secondary fermentation. It may consist of base wine, or must, or a mixture of base wine, musts, concentrated musts, grape sugar and partially fermented must; all products must meet the OIV definitions. Blending to obtain a cuvée with the desired characteristics may combine musts or wines from different varieties and regions, and base wines from different harvest years. The tirage liqueur is added to the cuvée before tirage.

In the EU the cuvée is also the starting point for counting time. A sparkling wine may be described as made by the traditional method only if it was made sparkling by second fermentation in the bottle, stayed in contact with the lees without interruption for at least nine months in the same undertaking from the time the cuvée was constituted, and was separated from the lees by disgorging (Regulation (EU) 2019/33, Article 53).

In the Champagne appellation pressing is carried out in fractions called cuvée and taille, which are vinified separately. According to the appellation specification, the cuvée is rich in acidity and gives fresh, lively aromas, while the taille is fruitier and richer in tannin. The base wines are limited to 102 litres of must per 160 kg of grapes.