Definition: Volée (disgorging)

by ice, i.e. after freezing the deposit in the neck of the bottle. The technique consists of immersing the neck of the bottle in a refrigerated brine tank maintained at a constant temperature of around -25°C. This forms an ice plug approximately 4 cm thick, which traps the sediment. After a few minutes, the bottle is uprighted and uncorked. The pressure expels the sediment, along with the ice cube and sediment trapped inside.

From 800 bottles/hour when uncorking by hand, productivity has increased more than twentyfold with mechanisation, which has also reduced fatigue for cellar workers.