Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine is a chapter in itself. The explanation that it is a wine with bubbles is somewhat inadequate.

Sparkling wines are made by many methods:

• Méthode ancestrale - this method produces natural sparkling wines Pét-Nat or pétillant naturel. Before fermentation is complete, the wine with residual sugar is bottled, sealed under a crown, and the bubbles formed are actually a by-product of the primary fermentation. In "our" world, this is the most widely used method. Such bubbles are fresh, playful, and usually you don't stop at just one bottle. :-)
  
  
• Méthode Champenoise - is a traditional method of producing sparkling wines in the French Champagne region and is based on secondary fermentation in the bottle. The grapes are carefully pressed and the first fermentation follows. This is followed by blending, or mixing, of wines of different varieties, from different vineyard routes, but also vintages. The finished still wine is then bottled into sparkling bottles. The bottle is closed with a crown cap and placed in a horizontal position. A prise de mousse (secondary fermentation) occurs and the resulting CO₂ turns the still wine into sparkling wine and bubbles are created. The peak phase of production is rremulation or shaking off the sediment on the cork. In practice, this means that the bottles are stored with the cork down for some time, tilted, and shaken every day. The bottle necks are then cooled in a freezing solution, after opening the bottle the frozen sediments shoot out and this ends the dégorgement (disgorging phase). The bottles are closed with a cork stopper and secured with wire.
  
  
• Méthode traditionnelle -  the procedure is identical to the Méthode Champenoise, but is used for sparkling wines produced outside the Champagne region.
  
  
• Charmat method - is one of the most widespread and is used to produce light, delicate, sparkling wines with lower effervescence and larger bubble size. It is based on the principle of secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The Charmat method is the production of sparkling wine "by volume", which significantly reduces costs and increases production speed. Natural winemakers do not use this method.
  
  
• More...
  
  
• And then there are still others... - they buy wine in a tank, spray CO₂ into it and the Czech dream is born :-)