Méthode Champenoise - things that go splat

Sometimes in the wine making process, for one reason or another (through no fault of the wine maker, of course!) one ends up with a wine created in less than ideal conditions. Perhaps it was an experimental blend, perhaps something needed to be corrected during fermentation, etc. In other words, there are many different things that can happen along the way to cause you to end up with a decent, but not great wine. What's a wine maker to do? Make Champagne, or course!

We were sampling a bottle of the latest batch, and testing it for readiness. As traditionalists, Jan and Steve had used the Veuve Clicquot method of aging the bottle on its side (to increase the surface area of yeast contact) and turning the bottle periodically to ultimately push the dead yeast into the neck of the bottle. Jan then chilled the bottle upside-down to freeze the yeast cap. Here, Jan is inspecting the frozen plug.

The theory here is that once the bottle is uncapped, the pressure from the dissolved CO2 will shoot the frozen yeast plug from the bottle, and you are left with drinkable Champagne. At this point, the Champagne is traditionally re-bottled for later consumption, but as we were testing it for readiness (cough), down the hatch it was going.

With eager anticipation, we waited for the uncapping. Then, splat! A semi-solid goo shot forth, pretty much all over the place. I guess the plug wasn't quite frozen, but the CO2 did its job anyway. A little sugar to taste, and we were ready to toast a successful bottle of the bubbly.