To make sparkling wine, follow the steps for making white wine - then include these steps at the end of the process.
Instructions
Starting Bottle Fermentation
1. Follow the process of making white wine, but omit final addition of campden tablet (sulfite) during final racking. (See "Make White Wine from Fresh Grapes.")
2. Figure out how much sugar you'll need to add to wine to create 4 pounds of atmospheric pressure after fermentation. Usually, 4 grams of sugar for each liter of wine will make 1 atmosphere of pressure.
3. Dissolve the sugar in a small amount of wine to make sugar syrup.
4. Rehydrate yeast in warm water and add to sugar syrup. Let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Add syrup/yeast mixture to wine. Stir thoroughly and shake to aerate.
6. Siphon wine into bottles. (See "Bottle Wine.")
7. Insert corks and secure with wire.
8. Lay bottles on sides to ferment.
Removing Sediment
9. When sediment has formed, give each bottle a slight, 1/2-inch twist and invert about 2 inches. Do this every two to three days until bottles are upside down and sediment sits on the corks.
10. When wine is clear, place bottles, upside down, in a deep-freeze with tops of bottles inserted in a freezing mixture.
11. Remove cork and sediment when sediment freezes.
12. Add 1 tsp. sugar syrup per bottle as quickly as possible and immediately recork. Fit cork with wire.
13. Let age or serve. Chill wine to about 55 degrees F before serving.
Tags: sugar syrup, bottles upside, bottles upside down, making white, making white wine
