Carbonating Commercial Wine

[The_Glue]

I am thinking about carbonating somw of my favourite shelf white wines the same way i bottlecarb beer to see how they would work as champagne.

Two questions:

Should i use champagne yeast instead of ale yeast?

Will the yeast survive in the wine which contains sulphur and probably zero oxigen?

 

[Mr_fleabite]

To give this experiment its best shot you'll probably want to use Champagne yeast and a small fraction of nutrient. Perhaps a small starter batch carefully measured to meter out the correct amount of sugar. I only suggest this due to the tough start they'll likely have in a commercial white wine. SO2 levels vary widely from producer to producer and even vintage to vintage.

SO2 levels in Champagne/ Sparkling are generally lower, so that fermentation can take place in the bottle; however not all sparkling wines are made this way.

In summary: use champagne yeast, but don't oxygenate the wine, nutrient is up to you (if it's not all used it could leave a yeasty flavor), if you're shooting for actual Champagne flavor (autolytic characteristics) this is a rough & winding road to get their. Champagne gets it's flavors from aging on/with the yeast, classic Champagne flavors don't really develop until ~2 years into bottle aging.

 

[Twerp129]

Champagne bottles are designed to withstand large amounts of pressure, normal bottle are not. Keep that in mind for sure.

Champagne is picked at high acid and low sugar levels when compared to still wines and the dosage is a very technical, nearly surgical procedure.

Don't let that stop you, just be careful with the glass.

 

[The_Glue]

Champagne gets it's flavors from aging on/with the yeast, classic Champagne flavors don't really develop until ~2 years into bottle aging.

Champagne is picked at high acid and low sugar levels when compared to still wines and the dosage is a very technical, nearly surgical procedure.

Ok it seems like this is harder than i thought, i am not that interested in simple sparkling wine, i think i have to abandon this idea

 

[Mr_fleabite]

Sorry to have discouraged you, Champagne/ Sparkling wine making is the most challenging and technical type of wine making (IMHO, though I think most would agree).

If you really like the flavors, but don't like the price of actual "Champagne" from the Champagne region of France there are some very nice Sparkling wines from Spain ("Cava") with a similar flavor profile (for under $20); I'd avoid the mass market domestic Sparkling wines when seeking something with flavor similar to Champagne. The up shot is it'll probably cost less than buying wine and investing time & $$ in carbonating it...and it's a pretty good consolation prize.

 

[T_Baggins]

what about force carbing and kegging?

 

[The_Glue]

what about force carbing and kegging?

I think i underestimated champagnes as just "bottle carbed wines" but now i know that there are much more differences so it seems pointless to just carb up some wine now.

 

[amcclai7]

I agree. I think you'd end up with something closer to a white wine spritzer than champagne.

 

[T_Baggins]

That would be true of grape wines....but what of fruit wines? like apple...say a sparkling cider, but in a higher gravity.

 

[T_Baggins]

here is quite simply the easiest thing I've found on the matter....


http://youtu.be/mrFohX_KQDs

 

[z-bob]

If you have the right cap, you can force-carbonate it in a 1L pop bottle using a CO2 tank. It works very well. I've done it several times for New Years Eve using decent box wines. The kids used to love carbonated apple juice.