"James Silverton" > wrote:

> I know that all the bulk (Charmat) process stuff I have tried
> was neither good nor worth retrying but I wonder if it has to be
> that way?

Not necessarily. Take bette base wines, leave it longer on the
lees, and there you are. But given the fact that the method is
cheaper, in 99.99% of the cases charmat method is used to make
plonk to compete at lowest price.

> Has anyone done any experiments?

As I have said: Geisenheim did experiments decades ago and found
no difference between tank and bottle fermented sparklers.

> The champagne made in New York state by Great Western was bottle
> fermented but was filtered under pressure and the contents of
> several bottles mixed before rebottling. Is that transvasage?

Yes, that's also "transvasage". In German it's "Transvasiermethode".

M.