Disgorgement is a technique used in the traditional method (méthode traditionnelle) of sparkling wine production. The purpose is to remove the deposit lees which has been collected in the neck of the bottle as a result of the riddling process.
In disgorgement, the neck of the bottle is frozen, and the lees will be trapped in a plug of ice. When the crown cap is removed, the pressure created by CO2 forces the plug of ice with lees out of the bottle.
After that, the wine is topped up (dosage) and resealed with a thick cork and a wire cage.
