Sparkling Wine From Store Bought Wine

[Lara Hart]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and a newbie to wine making. I only started this year. I have what could be an odd question. Has anyone tried or heard of making sparkling wine from an already made (store bought) wine? I'm in the process of making sparkling wine from a chardonnay I made using the Methode Champenoise. I came across this article https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/pgx5ey/how-to-make-wine-into-champagne where the author suggests using a store bought white wine. I'll admit I was intrigued and tried it, but it resulted in a flat, slightly sweeter than starting wine. Now that I know a little more about what goes into making wine, I realized that the vineyard more than likely stabilized it so the possibility of a second fermentation was nil. So, my question is, has anyone ever succeeded in this and/or is there any white wines on the market that this would be possible? again, I'm still learning, so please forgive my ignorance.

 

[Boatboy24]

Here's the 'Easy Button':

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EPEALEM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[BernardSmith]

I don't know that using Sodastream makes it so easy. Sodastream is designed to be used only with water. The added sugar in a sweeter wine or the added alcohol in any wine tends to create a problem for the device and you might find that rather than get a nicely carbonated bottle you are mopping up wine from counter tops, walls, floors and ceilings... Or has your experience been quite different?

 

[Lara Hart]

Thank you for responding. I've used the SodaStream. It just doesn't taste the same. I'm more curious about my original question and if anyone has tried and succeeded. It seems to have worked for the author of the article I posted, but I wonder what wine he used.

 

[Elizajean]

Thank you for responding. I've used the SodaStream. It just doesn't taste the same. I'm more curious about my original question and if anyone has tried and succeeded. It seems to have worked for the author of the article I posted, but I wonder what wine he used.

Lara, I just read the article you included and it's pretty clear he used any cheap white off the shelf. I doubt he used anything special, and most commercial, cheap, wine is probably processed the same. Sounds like you may not have used enough yeast, maybe too much sugar, and if your temperature was cool, it could have an impact. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing and good luck!

 

[Lara Hart]

Thank you, Elizajean! Well, for fun, I'm going to try again and see what happens. LOL. I'll report back.

 

[Boatboy24]

I don't know that using Sodastream makes it so easy. Sodastream is designed to be used only with water. The added sugar in a sweeter wine or the added alcohol in any wine tends to create a problem for the device and you might find that rather than get a nicely carbonated bottle you are mopping up wine from counter tops, walls, floors and ceilings... Or has your experience been quite different?

I make sure to thoroughly clean the dispenser with warm water when I'm done. Haven't actually taken this step, but you could also quickly run a batch of water through too.

 

[user 36973]

You will likely find that many (most?) white wines have been stabilized with sorbate and will resist refermentation unless you inoculate with a lot of yeast.

An easier method is to use a small keg (such as a 3 or 5 gallon corny keg), pour the still wine into it, chill it, and force carbonate at 35+ psi. Then just tap the keg when you want some. You'll have to reduce pressure or manage the dispensing line to avoid a glass of foam though.