Funke Olajiga

 

As much as we would all like to pop that bottle of sparkling wine this festive period, we might need to start shopping early for it because production was reduced drastically due to shortage of staff caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the production locations closed for two months. Guess what? sparkling wine lovers are not deterred; some are making their wines at home.

Jigaatradings found out how?  There are actually 6 major methods by which sparkling wines are produced, each resulting in a different carbonation level and, ultimately, a different style of bubbly!

Our major focus would however be on the 

As much as we would all like to pop that bottle of sparkling wine this festive period, we might need to start shopping early for it because production has reduced drastically due to the shortage of staff caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the production locations are closed for two months.

Guess what? The sparkling wine lovers are not deterred; some are making their wines at home.

Jigaatradings found out how? There are six notable methods by which sparkling wine is produced, each resulting in a different carbonation level and, ultimately, a different style of bubbly!

Our main focus would, however, be on the Charmat method or tank method. This process skips the months of in-bottle secondary fermentation in favor of a pre-bottling second round of fermentation in a large stainless-steel tank. In the tanks, the bubbles are trapped via carbonation for delicious and fruitier sparkling wines.

The wine is mixed in a stainless-steel pressure tank, together with sugar and yeast. When the sugar changes into alcohol and carbon dioxide, the yeast is filtered and removed, and the wine is bottled. The duration of fermentation affects the quality; longer fermentation preserves the wine’s aromas better and gives finer and more durable bubbles.