Okay, I'm thinking of trying a Champagne... excuse me, sparkling wine. I
have descriptions on the basic procedure, but need some sort of riddling
rack in which to stack the bottles during the final fermentation. Where can
I get some? Failing that, any ideas how to construct something usable?

Matthew in Montgomery

I bought used ones off of Presque Isle Wine Cellars in PA. They are
tough to make; these came from France and were bought off a winery
going out of business in Pittsburgh where I come from. (weird how
things can go full circle, huh? ).

You can certainly try the procedure outlined by Pp too, it's pretty
common to do that if you don't have the racks. Most people lift the
bottle a little (an inch or so) give it a sharp twist and drop it into
the case to move the sediment down.

The racks are heavy so shipping would be a chunk of change.

Joe

On 5/30/2006 4:33 PM, pp wrote:
Matthew Givens wrote:

Okay, I'm thinking of trying a Champagne... excuse me, sparkling wine. I
have descriptions on the basic procedure, but need some sort of riddling
rack in which to stack the bottles during the final fermentation. Where can
I get some? Failing that, any ideas how to construct something usable?

Matthew in Montgomery


No need for anything that fancy - you can stack the bottles on their
sides in regular cases during the secondary fermentation, just mix the
content every 2-3 weeks to promote good fermentation. After aging, just
invert the bottles into the cases so that the sediment falls to the
bottle cap, and for the first 1-2 weeks rotate them back and forth to
loosen up any sediment clinging to the sides. This is basically all
that riddling does, just not as fancy; it works just as well.

Pp



Matthew,

I've riddled using the method Pp outlines. The carton the bottles came
in works fine as a riddling rack. I'd add that a good shaking prior to
the complete inversion is probably a good idea. The lees which have
compacted along the side of the bottle during the secondary fermentation
and aging will be fairly difficult to dislodge otherwise. I didn't mix
during the secondary as Pp suggests, and I had an extended aging period,
which may be why my lees were more comfortable with their position along
the side of the bottle.

Also, if you are planning on an extended sur lie aging, look for the
highest quality crown caps. After two years of aging I had a few
bottles with what looked like a ring of rust around the neck of the
bottle. This didn't seem to have any impact on the flavor, and it may
have been the hardened residue of a slight seepage of the champagne into
the crimps of the crown cap, as the cap itself didn't show any signs of
rust or other damage. If I make another batch I'll also see about
borrowing a bench or floor capper, as I used the hand held job which
came with my beginners home brewing kit. It's as cheaply made as is
possible, with plastic replacing every part that doesn't absolutely have
to be metal, and my hope is that a more sturdy capper may give a tighter
fit to the crown caps.

I'd love to hear feedback from other sparkling wine makers regarding the
'crust' I had on some of my bottles.


Cheers,
Ken

Ken,
I buy crown caps from Presque Isle and don't think they are anything
special, they have a plastic seal and sell for a few cents.

It may be your capper. Mine is at least 50 years old and is all metal
but it sold for $2.00 whenever it was made...

You might want to check out those 'second hand wannabe antique' shops;
I see great cappers there for less than $25 once in a while in them.
The bench cappers I saw in winemaking shops weren't that impressive to
me, they had a lot of plastic in them too.

All I did to mine was replace the gasket under the capper with a garden
hose seal, mine was all dried out. We made it a little longer too by
welding a block of steel into the upright because mine was really made
for small bottles. I seal them, then rotate the bottle 90 degrees and
recrimp just because I'm anal. I just opened the last of the sparklers
from 97 a few months back, never had any rusted seals...

Joe

.. After two years of aging I had a few
bottles with what looked like a ring of rust around the neck of the
bottle. This didn't seem to have any impact on the flavor, and it may
have been the hardened residue of a slight seepage of the champagne into
the crimps of the crown cap, as the cap itself didn't show any signs of
rust or other damage. If I make another batch I'll also see about
borrowing a bench or floor capper, as I used the hand held job which
came with my beginners home brewing kit. It's as cheaply made as is
possible, with plastic replacing every part that doesn't absolutely have
to be metal, and my hope is that a more sturdy capper may give a tighter
fit to the crown caps.

I'd love to hear feedback from other sparkling wine makers regarding the
'crust' I had on some of my bottles.


Cheers,
Ken

I have used the upside down in the box method for several batches with great
success. However, I am just getting ready to move up to a riddling rack.
Nothing fancy. My plan is to use 3/4 inch plywood with holes drilled into
it and joined a the top with a piano hinge. If you have to buy everything,
it would probably be about $20. I probably have most of the stuff laying
around my garage.

Bryan
"pp" wrote in message
oups.com...

Matthew Givens wrote:
Okay, I'm thinking of trying a Champagne... excuse me, sparkling wine. I
have descriptions on the basic procedure, but need some sort of riddling
rack in which to stack the bottles during the final fermentation. Where
can
I get some? Failing that, any ideas how to construct something usable?

Matthew in Montgomery

No need for anything that fancy - you can stack the bottles on their
sides in regular cases during the secondary fermentation, just mix the
content every 2-3 weeks to promote good fermentation. After aging, just
invert the bottles into the cases so that the sediment falls to the
bottle cap, and for the first 1-2 weeks rotate them back and forth to
loosen up any sediment clinging to the sides. This is basically all
that riddling does, just not as fancy; it works just as well.

Pp

Bryan;
I tried to do that and ended up buying a riddling rack...

I was drilling the holes at a 30 degree angle with around a 2.5" hole
saw. That was next to impossible, I think I did 3 holes and quit
before I broke an arm or worse because I was doing it freehand.

You could use any cheap but heavy hinge instead of a piano hinge to
save a few bucks. You could probably just use furring strips on the
bottom to give you an offset.

The openings on mine are 2.5" across on 5 inch centers. What they did
was bore at a 45 degree angle. It's basically 6 oak boards roughly
4.5" wide by 1". If you have access to a drill press you could build a
jig and just use some clear 2 x 6's, it would be a lot easier and
probably safer.

I could take some pictures of mine and email you if you would like.

Joe




Bryan M. Everitt wrote:
I have used the upside down in the box method for several batches with great
success. However, I am just getting ready to move up to a riddling rack.
Nothing fancy. My plan is to use 3/4 inch plywood with holes drilled into
it and joined a the top with a piano hinge. If you have to buy everything,
it would probably be about $20. I probably have most of the stuff laying
around my garage.

Joe,

Thanks for the advice, I had been trying to figure out how big to make the
holes. I have drill press and a pretty beefy drill, but a lot of 2.5" holes
does sound like a lot of work. If you have some pictures, I wouldn't mind
looking at them, but don't worry too much about it. I have been able to
find a lot of pictures and such online.

Bryan
"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
oups.com...
Bryan;
I tried to do that and ended up buying a riddling rack...

I was drilling the holes at a 30 degree angle with around a 2.5" hole
saw. That was next to impossible, I think I did 3 holes and quit
before I broke an arm or worse because I was doing it freehand.

You could use any cheap but heavy hinge instead of a piano hinge to
save a few bucks. You could probably just use furring strips on the
bottom to give you an offset.

The openings on mine are 2.5" across on 5 inch centers. What they did
was bore at a 45 degree angle. It's basically 6 oak boards roughly
4.5" wide by 1". If you have access to a drill press you could build a
jig and just use some clear 2 x 6's, it would be a lot easier and
probably safer.

I could take some pictures of mine and email you if you would like.

Joe




Bryan M. Everitt wrote:
I have used the upside down in the box method for several batches with
great
success. However, I am just getting ready to move up to a riddling rack.
Nothing fancy. My plan is to use 3/4 inch plywood with holes drilled
into
it and joined a the top with a piano hinge. If you have to buy
everything,
it would probably be about $20. I probably have most of the stuff laying
around my garage.