What Is Método Clássico? How Amalia Espumante Is Made

By Amalia Vineyard Alliance · Last updated October2026

Método clássico is the Portuguese name for the traditional method of making sparkling wine. A still wine is bottled with a little yeast and sugar, ferments a second time inside the bottle, and rests on the spent yeast for months before the sediment is removed. Portuguese law requires certified método clássico Espumante to spend at least nine months on the lees.

All three Amalia Sparkling wines are made this way, in Bairrada, from grapes hand-harvested by more than 500 farming families. Pedro, who makes the wines, walked us through each stage at the cellar, and most of what follows is in his words.

What does método clássico mean?

Método clássico means the bubbles are made in the bottle you buy. The second fermentation happens inside that sealed bottle, so the carbon dioxide has nowhere to go and dissolves into the wine. On a Portuguese label you may also see método tradicional or fermentação em garrafa, which means fermented in the bottle. All three name the same method.

The other common way to make sparkling wine is the tank method, where the second fermentation happens in a large pressurized tank and the wine is bottled afterward. It’s named Charmat Method and it is a quicker and less effective method. Método clássico takes longer, and the time the wine spends on its lees in the bottle is the reason it gets its fine bubble and its depth.

How is Amalia made, step by step?

• Harvested by hand. The grapes are picked by hand by the Alliance’s growers and fully destemmed before pressing. For sparkling wine, Baga is picked earlier than for red wine, while its acidity is still high.

• Pressing. The grapes go to pneumatic presses, which press gently. With Baga, how hard they press decides the color: a little more for the Rosé, barely at all for the Blanc de Noirs.

• The base wine. The juice ferments into a still, dry wine. Pedro keeps the temperatures “a little lower” than usual, “so that we manage to preserve the aromas of the grapes.”

• Time on the lees. Before bottling, the base wine rests on its lees and is stirred, a step called bâtonnage, “to make it denser, to make it rounder,” as Pedro puts it.

• Tirage and the second fermentation. The wine is bottled with a small dose of yeast and sugar and sealed. The yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and the pressure builds to 5.5 bar. Pedro lets this fermentation run “a little longer,” because it gives the wine “more complexity.”

• Aging on the lees. The bottles then lie on their spent yeast for at least nine months.

• Riddling and disgorgement. The bottles are turned and tipped, gradually, until the sediment collects in the neck. At the cellar this riddling is automated. The plug of sediment is then frozen and removed.

• The dosage. A small measure of wine is added to set the final balance, and the bottle gets its cork.

Pedro described these steps for the Blanc de Blancs and said the process is “very similar” for the Rosé and the Blanc de Noirs. What changes between them is the grape and the pressing, which our guide to Baga covers in detail.

What do nine months on the lees do?

Lees are the spent yeast cells left in the bottle after the second fermentation. While the wine rests on them, they slowly break down and give it texture, a finer and more persistent bubble, and aromas of bread and toast. Nine months is the legal minimum for certified método clássico Espumante, and every Amalia wine spends at least that long.

You can find it in the tasting notes. The Blanc de Blancs shows green apple and lime with hints of brioche. The Rosé has tart wild raspberry over an underlying toastiness. The bread and the toast come from the time on the lees.

What is the dosage, and who decides it?

The dosage, or licor de expedição in Portuguese, is the last thing added to the bottle before it is corked. “It’s wine,” Pedro says. “It’s nothing different. Often it’s the same wine, with slight adjustments.” It is a small amount, “no more than 40 or 50 ml per bottle,” but it sets how dry the wine tastes, can touch its color, and can make it read as younger or more evolved.

Pedro is careful with it. A sparkling wine can be wonderful, he says, and the dosage can end up making it less interesting. “Here the process is exactly the opposite. We want the dosage to work as an improver.” For Amalia it was fine-tuned together with founder António Coelho Lima: “He knows the market, we know the process.”

The result is three Brut wines, each with its own balance:

What does 5.5 bar of pressure mean and what’s the result in the glass?

Bar measures the pressure of the carbon dioxide inside a closed bottle. All three Amalia wines are bottled at 5.5 bar, and all of that gas comes from the second fermentation in the bottle. In the glass it shows as a fine, persistent bubble. Pedro’s advice for seeing it is temperature: Espumante “has to be served and drunk well chilled,” so the bubble, the aromas and the intensity on the palate all come through.

Why is método clássico tied to Bairrada?

Bairrada was one of the first regions in Portugal to take up sparkling wine, and its cool, damp Atlantic climate gives grapes the high acidity the method depends on. Pedro calls the region “the cradle of Espumante in Portugal,” and describes the inheritance as “a heavy heritage, but at the same time a great one.” For the region itself, its soils and its climate, read Bairrada, Explained. For the category as a whole, start with our guide, What Is Portuguese Sparkling Wine?

Frequently asked questions

What does método clássico mean?

Método clássico is Portuguese for the traditional method of making sparkling wine. The wine goes through its second fermentation inside the bottle it is sold in, then rests on its lees before the sediment is removed. Labels may also say método tradicional or fermentação em garrafa.

Is método clássico the same as the Champagne method?

Yes. It is the same technique, with the second fermentation in the bottle, and Portugal calls it método clássico. What differs is the place and the grapes. Amalia is made in Bairrada from the native Portuguese grapes Baga, Bical and Arinto.

How long does método clássico Espumante age on the lees?

Portuguese law requires certified método clássico Espumante to rest at least nine months on the lees. All three Amalia wines spend at least nine months on the lees.

What is the dosage in sparkling wine?

The dosage is a small amount of wine, sometimes with sugar, added after disgorgement and before the cork. It sets the final sweetness and balance. At Amalia it is no more than 40 or 50 ml per bottle, and all three wines are Brut.

What does 5.5 bar mean?

It is the pressure of the carbon dioxide inside the bottle. In método clássico all of that gas comes from the second fermentation in the bottle. All three Amalia wines are bottled at 5.5 bar.

Is Amalia available in the United States?

Yes. AVA is imported into the United States by Canopy Wine Selections, LLC, and the wines are carried by distributors in a number of states. Restaurants, retailers and other trade buyers are welcome to contact our commercial team directly. To hear from us as the range travels further, join our list.

New to the category? Start with What Is Portuguese Sparkling Wine?, read about Baga, the grape behind our Rosé and Blanc de Noirs, or see all three wines.

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