Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal

"busygal" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal

Try here Busygal http://home.att.net/~lumeisenman/chapt20.html

Thanks! I will give it a try. Do you mind if I email you with any questions?

Hi busygal

I've made lots of great sparkling wine using those special sparkling wine
stoppers with valves inside them (your homebrew shop will give you further
details).

Initially, you begin fermentation in a demijohn as normal, transfer to
strong sparkling wine bottles after a week or two and fit the valve
stoppers. Fermentation continues inside the bottle - and the valve releases
excess pressure from inside the bottle so no explosions!!! - the valve
leaves enough sparkle inside the bottle to give you the fizz you need.

When fermentation is complete, there'll be sediment at the bottom of the
bottle, You'll need to get rid of this - so now keep the bottle upside down
and each day for as long as it takes give the bottle a gentle twist to
encourage the sediment to fall towards the stopper - leaving a crystal clear
liquid above.

When this is done, release the valve and watch that sediment fly out! You
will lose a little of the wine (about half a glass or so) but if it bothers
you, you can always take the stopper off - top up with a normal wine - and
replace the valve stopper! From now on, you can keep the bottles upright
for the wine to mature and when you open them in a year or two (??!!!???)
your glass will fizz with delight! This method - which is similar to the
Methode Champenoise method, used to make Champagne and Cava - and makes
sparkling winemaking soooooooooo easy!

Once you've seen one of these valve stoppers, you'll know exactly what to do
but if you need any further help, please do email me personally.

Regards and have fun!!

World's Worse



"busygal" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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Hey busygal

In all the excitement I forgot to say in my previous post:
a) try and use a champagne type yeast, as this will result in a less and
easier sediment to get rid of from the bottle afterwards.
b) you can use any wine recipe for sparkling wine but favourites are fruits
such as apple, pear, rhubarb - grapes, of course - and even mead. You may
like to use a small bunch of elderflowers with some of these - especially
apple.

"busygal" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 10/9/03

I don't mind Busygal.
lum

"busygal" wrote in message
om...
Thanks! I will give it a try. Do you mind if I email you with any
questions?

Who sells those special sparkling wine stoppers with valves inside
them n the USA... I cannot seem to locate any... Do you know of any
on-line source???

A.J.

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 17:59:55 +0100, "WorldsWorst"
wrote:

Hi busygal

I've made lots of great sparkling wine using those (your homebrew shop will give you further
details).

Initially, you begin fermentation in a demijohn as normal, transfer to
strong sparkling wine bottles after a week or two and fit the valve
stoppers. Fermentation continues inside the bottle - and the valve releases
excess pressure from inside the bottle so no explosions!!! - the valve
leaves enough sparkle inside the bottle to give you the fizz you need.

When fermentation is complete, there'll be sediment at the bottom of the
bottle, You'll need to get rid of this - so now keep the bottle upside down
and each day for as long as it takes give the bottle a gentle twist to
encourage the sediment to fall towards the stopper - leaving a crystal clear
liquid above.

When this is done, release the valve and watch that sediment fly out! You
will lose a little of the wine (about half a glass or so) but if it bothers
you, you can always take the stopper off - top up with a normal wine - and
replace the valve stopper! From now on, you can keep the bottles upright
for the wine to mature and when you open them in a year or two (??!!!???)
your glass will fizz with delight! This method - which is similar to the
Methode Champenoise method, used to make Champagne and Cava - and makes
sparkling winemaking soooooooooo easy!

Once you've seen one of these valve stoppers, you'll know exactly what to do
but if you need any further help, please do email me personally.

Regards and have fun!!

World's Worse



"busygal" wrote in message
. com...
Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 10/9/03

Don't know about the USA, AJ, as I'm in the UK but the stoppers are not a
rarity and they should be readily available at all good winebrew shops.
"busygal" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

I am new to this group, so I apologize if this has already been asked
and answered about 20,000 messages back, but....

I am looking for a beginner / intermediate recipe or instruction set
for making champagne or "sparking wine".

I have made wine, both white and red, for several years now with good
results, and am looking to try to convert a bit of it to champagne.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated!

Regards,

busygal


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.525 / Virus Database: 322 - Release Date: 10/9/03