The grapes are gently pressed immediately upon reception at the winery. The first pressing, known as the \"cuvée\", yields a very high quality must. The second pressing is known as the \"taille\", most quality champagne houses do not use the second pressing. During fermentation, the wine is run off from the vat after the juice has picked up a pink colour from maceration with the black grape skins. Blending consists of creating the different \"cuvées\" that make up the House\'s range of champagnes. A characteristic and consistent style is achieved by blending wines from different harvests. After bottling at the end of winter, the still wine slowly becomes sparkling due to the combined action of a mixture of sugar and yeast added to the wine just before bottling.