Best wine kit to sparke?

[dmuz]

Hi all,
I've done a few kits on the market mainly Solomon Grundy which have turned out pretty decent. I have been asked the question as to whether i can produce a champagne/cava/sparkling 'type' wine using existing kits on the market by just adding co2 once fermented?

So my questions are, Has anyone tried this? Can anyone recommend a kit that could be good for this taste wise? Would using champagne yeast improve the authenticity?

I have a second query, Can i use a corny for carbonating and serving wine successfully? I cannot see any reason why not. I was actually thinking about a separate project, putting a wine kit in the corny with just enough pressure to serve but not carbonate for summer bbq's

Lots of questions in there but appreciate any feedback.

[AnthonyUK]

Basically any kit can be used as a basis for sparkling wine. I prefer the traditional method but it is a bit faffy.
My most recent was an Australian Chardonnay. Fermented out then bottled in Champagne bottles (important) then primed for 5 or 6 atm of carbonation.
The bottles have been conditioning for a year upside down so the sediment can be removed when opening (read sprayed all over the kitchen) and it helps to chill the bottles down as cold as possible.

[Geezah]

I use a SodaStream to make sparkling wine / alcopops.
Ferment to dry, add sodium met / pot sorb and sweeten to taste.... max fizz in the SodaStream then bottle.

[rootsbrew]

@dmuz
Wine should be made should be made to sparkle using secondary fermentation. Use of injection will lead to a coarse result - lemonade bubbles vs. champagne bubbles.
I should stress that I haven't yet ventured into the wine production sphere, but I imagine the easiest method, is to make it like beer: ferment the kit in a large vessel and allow to settle out as usual, then: rack, prime and bottle. If the wine is quite clear to start with and you leave the bottles long enough (6+ months), you should get a good result - make sure you leave them upright, so you don't get too much sediment in the pour! It's called methode ancestrale. Blanquette de Limoux is made like this.

If you want to follow AnthonyUK's suggestion, you can disgorge, but it's known to be a PITA!

@AnthonyUK
I was looking at that Pinot Chardonnay kit from CalCon for this. What other kits have you intentionally made into sparkling wine (as opposed to accidentally bottled with a little sugar or not degassed completely!)?
I'm intrigued. How much seditment do you end up with in the final wine?
You say 5 atms. Do you assume the wine has zero CO2 before hand? If so, how much sugar do you add?
What are your tips for disgorging? Do you get the bottles almost frozen?

[dmuz]

cheers all for the responses. Im planning on putting the majority in a corny and serving under pressure.( but without carbonating following rootsbrew's advice.) Is there anything wrong with this??

I think it might experiment with some of the left over wine after kegging before priming a whole 23l worth.
Would normal corked wine bottles be ok for primed wine do we think? or will i have to go on a cava fuelled binge to stock up?

[CJR]

cheers all for the responses. Im planning on putting the majority in a corny and serving under pressure.( but without carbonating following rootsbrew's advice.) Is there anything wrong with this??

I think it might experiment with some of the left over wine after kegging before priming a whole 23l worth.
Would normal corked wine bottles be ok for primed wine do we think? or will i have to go on a cava fuelled binge to stock up?

I'd say the Cava binge or buy some champagne bottles from LHBS. Also don't forget to get proper champagne corks and not normal wine corks.

[AnthonyUK]

@AnthonyUK
I was looking at that Pinot Chardonnay kit from CalCon for this. What other kits have you intentionally made into sparkling wine (as opposed to accidentally bottled with a little sugar or not degassed completely!)?
I'm intrigued. How much seditment do you end up with in the final wine?
You say 5 atms. Do you assume the wine has zero CO2 before hand? If so, how much sugar do you add?
What are your tips for disgorging? Do you get the bottles almost frozen?

Hi Rootsbrew,
I had a couple of white wine kits from the Paklab 'special' last year. I think one was the Australian chardonnay and the other was maybe a Riesling.
I've never yet made a white wine that is comparable even to a £5 bottle but by adding some fizz most of the deficiencies are masked.
I will be looking at better quality kits though this year in the £50+ range for non-sparkling and will probably bottle 6 as sparkling.
I bottle in good quality champagne bottles using the mushroom style plastic stoppers which are hollow and wire cages.



As mentioned I have them stored upside-down and the sediment just about fills the stopper.
I don't freeze but chill down as much as possible and losses when disgorging are minimal.
For champagne levels of fizz you are looking at roughly 10-15g per bottle of priming sugar assuming you have fermented out completely.
As mine had sat for a while clearing I'm assuming there was very little CO2 left in suspension.
I agree that the carbonation is much better when achieved in the bottle

Would normal corked wine bottles be ok for primed wine do we think?

Definitely not unless you like the thought of bottles exploding in storage or worse, in the house!!