Making sparkling Chardonnay

[Xlev]

Hi

I cant seem to find many resources on making sparkling wine.Im planning on making a sparkling wine from grapes this year, but I am considering giving a go with the Winexpert Sonoma Chardonnay kit before. I am trying to understand what should the wine parameters look like when making sparkling wine. Should ph and TA be in the same range as a typical chardonnay? Im guessing that the production of carbonic acid during carbonation woukd increase the acidity which would make the wine taste differently than if it was a still wine.I guess you can back sweeten then.

Also I like my Chardonnay buttery,but if you make it from kit you cant put it through malo.Im planning on aging sur lie,but is there anything else that can be done to make the chardonnay kit get more of that buttery taste?

I found this resource if anyone is interested on making sparkling wine https://shop.scottlab.com/content/files/Documents/Handbooks/SparklingHandbook1819.pdf

Any other resources/books anyone would mind to share?

Thanks in advance

 

[BarrelMonkey]

I am making sparkling wine this year too (The following applies to traditional/champagne method... things may be different if you're planning to do forced carbonation)

As far as base wine parameters go, the first thing is to make sure the alcohol isn't too high. You don't want to go much over 11.5% since the secondary fermentation will add ~1% or more and yeast don't like fermenting in high alcohol environments.

pH is typically lower and TA higher for sparkling base wine vs still. After primary fermentation, my pH was ~3.05 and TA ~9.15. It should taste clean but a bit too tart for you to enjoy a whole glass as is.

The art and science of sparkling is in the tirage - the yeast culture that you'll add to your (sweetened) base wine to initiate secondary fermentation. You basically want to gradually introduce wine to your yeast culture to acclimatize it to the low pH/high alcohol content.

LMK if you're planning to do traditional method (ie ferment in bottle) - I'm sure I have some useful links.

 

[Xlev]

I am making sparkling wine this year too (The following applies to traditional/champagne method... things may be different if you're planning to do forced carbonation)

As far as base wine parameters go, the first thing is to make sure the alcohol isn't too high. You don't want to go much over 11.5% since the secondary fermentation will add ~1% or more and yeast don't like fermenting in high alcohol environments.

pH is typically lower and TA higher for sparkling base wine vs still. After primary fermentation, my pH was ~3.05 and TA ~9.15. It should taste clean but a bit too tart for you to enjoy a whole glass as is.

The art and science of sparkling is in the tirage - the yeast culture that you'll add to your (sweetened) base wine to initiate secondary fermentation. You basically want to gradually introduce wine to your yeast culture to acclimatize it to the low pH/high alcohol content.

LMK if you're planning to do traditional method (ie ferment in bottle) - I'm sure I have some useful links.

Hei and thank you for your reply. Yes I definitely would like to do the traditional method.Can I ask why should the TA be higher when making sparkling wine?Do you back sweeten yours to balance the acidity in the end?

Definitely some resources would be great

 

[cmason1957]

One resource you may consider watching is a webinar from Daniel Pambianchi entitled making sparkling wine at home. It will be very in depth, Daniel is very through in his talks, there is a cost to view it, but I believe it is nominal, like $5 USD.

Webinars - Daniel Pambianchi

WEBINARS Following is a list of UPCOMING and PAST webinars. Here you can register for upcoming webinars and purchase video recording viewings of past webinars. Please note that posted times for upcoming webinars are EST, Eastern Standard Time, or UTC–5. Find Out More DATE & TIME TOPIC &...

techniquesinhomewinemaking.com

 

[Xlev]

One resource you may consider watching is a webinar from Daniel Pambianchi entitled making sparkling wine at home. It will be very in depth, Daniel is very through in his talks, there is a cost to view it, but I believe it is nominal, like $5 USD.

Webinars - Daniel Pambianchi

WEBINARS Following is a list of UPCOMING and PAST webinars. Here you can register for upcoming webinars and purchase video recording viewings of past webinars. Please note that posted times for upcoming webinars are EST, Eastern Standard Time, or UTC–5. Find Out More DATE & TIME TOPIC &...

techniquesinhomewinemaking.com

Thank you for your reply,I have watched it but he is more focused on the carbonation and not on the base wine.Doesnt talk about the right balance of the base wine

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Can I ask why should the TA be higher when making sparkling wine?

Firstly I don’t consider myself an expert: I haven’t made sparkling wine at home before (except for some elderflower fizz last year). But I do work at a winery, where I’ve helped to make sparkling wines for the past 4-5 years.

It does seem counterintuitive that sparkling wines are acidic. I guess it’s because they are typically crisp and bright in character with subtle flavors. The bubbles really bring out the aromatics. If you age your wine for any period of time on the lees (in the bottle), that will add some creaminess which can also blunt the acidity. (For this reason I would also be hesitant to pile on the buttery notes in a sparkling wine. Certainly some producers use ML as part of their cuvee, but what might be attractive in a still wine may come across as over the top and strange in sparkling)

Do you back sweeten yours to balance the acidity in the end?

You add sugar to your base wine at bottling – however, this is largely to feed the yeast in secondary fermentation. This can be up to ~25g/L, which (if fully fermented) will give a pressure in the bottle of about 6 atm – so you definitely want to use real champagne bottles with a suitable closure.

The acidity/sugar balance is adjusted at disgorgement – the ‘dosage’ . If your acidity is on the low end, you might not need to add any sugar. You may even skip the disgorging step (which by all accounts is a bit messy) – though of course your wine will then still have some yeast/cloudiness.

Definitely some resources would be great

Some introductory references to sparkling wine:

Napa wine academy
Rack and Riddle

More detailed guides that I have found helpful:

Bruce Zoecklein
Univ. of Georgia
Peter Brehm
Jack Keller

I'm not sure how the various ingredients in kits are presented, but I would be hesitant to add the standard additives (SO2, sorbate). Both of these will likely prevent your secondary fermentation from taking off. I do add SO2 to my sparkling base wine, but only to about 15-20ppm.

 

[joeswine]

Ok first keep it simple ( Chardonnay) not so much pino , or any liter wine , if you want champagne , start your kit at around 12% abv. Wait till it drops to around 1.02 % .
Prep .
Clean and ha be 5 wine bottles ready , plus corks and cages , rack off 5 bottles cork place a sugar pill in each bottle ,cork and cage and then place them in a bucket with a lid ( do not locked down the lip , place a towel over it and place it in a dark spot for 20 days , should be done , longer would be better.

 

[joeswine]

Ok first keep it simple (Chardonnay) not so much Pino, or any liter wine, if you want champagne, start your kit at around 12% abv. Wait till it drops to around 1.02 % .
Prep.
Clean and ha be 5 wine bottles ready, plus corks and cages, rack off 5 bottles of cork place a sugar pill in each bottle, cork, and cage, and then place them in a bucket with a lid (do not lock down the lip, place a towel over it and place it in a dark spot for 20 days, should be done, longer would be better.

carbonation drops. short but sweet. just be careful.