Glossary
Autolysis
The slow breakdown of spent yeast cells during extended lees ageing, releasing compounds that build bread, brioche and savoury notes in champagne.
Autolysis is the enzymatic self-digestion of yeast cells after the second fermentation is complete. The dead yeasts remain in the bottle, in contact with the wine, and slowly release amino acids, mannoproteins and esters into solution.
This process builds the brioche, toasted bread, nougat and savoury notes characteristic of long-aged champagne. AOC rules require a minimum of 15 months on the lees for non-vintage and 3 years for vintage, but many houses age their prestige cuvées for 7–10 years or more to deepen the autolytic character.
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