What is bâtonnage and when is it done?
Bâtonnage occurs during the wine aging process, after alcoholic fermentation. It is an oenological practice in which yeast cells are stirred back into suspension to prevent their sedimentation and layering.
In winemaking terminology, bâtonnage refers to the movement that resuspends the fine lees of the wine.
This delicate stirring operation aims to bring the fine or noble lees back to the surface—these are the residues that settle at the bottom of the bottle or the container used.
What is the purpose of bâtonnage?
From a technical perspective, bâtonnage prevents yeast stratification by resuspending them, promoting cellular lysis.
During lysis, yeast cells release wall mannoproteins, protective colloids that enhance the wine’s organoleptic profile by adding softness and roundness while improving aroma perception.
How is bâtonnage performed?
Originally from France, this technique was later adopted in Italian wineries at the end of the 1990s. Historically, it was carried out using a stick (bâton in French), which gave the method its name.
Today, bâtonnage can be performed using various methods and in different containers: in autoclaves, tanks, or bottles.
At Centinari, we use the latter technique, manually rotating the bottles 180°.
After the secondary fermentation, once a month, our cellar master carefully takes each bottle and stirs the yeast to prevent sedimentation and layering.
