Tirage [pronunciation: tir-ahj]
The act of bottling still wines along with the liqueur de tirage in preparation for the secondary fermentation. In Champagne, it's customary to denote non-vintage wine's year of bottling rather than the year of harvest. For example, "tirage 2005" means that the wine was bottled in 2005, and the base vintage is most likely 2004.
See also: Vintage Champagne
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