The Four Major Methods to Produce Sparkling Wine: the Charmant Process - Essay Example

A wine that possesses a considerable amount of CO2, a carbon dioxide in the solution to make it fizzy is known as sparkling wine. CO2 may be from the natural fermentation that is in a bottle in a big tank to resist the pressure or it may also be the product of CO2 injection. The typical color of sparkling-wine is white and red (Robinson, 2006). The patterns of red colored sparkling wines can be Australia’s sparkling Shiraz and Italian Brachetto. The sweetness in the taste of this type of wine varies from very arid to comparatively sweeter ones.Sparkling wine looks more yummy with food like chips, seafood, sushi and fish. The sparkling-wine acidity works well with foods having fats and oil in fish and the slightly sweet taste of this wine taste good with fruits. At present, the popularity of sparkling wine has been increased as it is comparatively acidic and its 1 or 2 glass serving remove the appetite of a person. If you want to serve a chilled glass of sparkling wine keep it in the refrigerator only for about 45 minutes. Otherwise, long cooling time will destroy its smell and taste. The better idea of serving the sparkling-wine is in the thin long flutes glasses. A very good example of sparkling-wine can be Champagne. This type of wine is specifically manufactured in the specific areas of France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and South Africa. The Austrian and German sparkling wines usually are named Sekt. United Statesis one of the very major Sparkling wine manufacturerof almost more than 300 years and became the fourth largest sparkling wine manufacturers, as it produces this wine in its various states. At the old time,the United Kingdom was very famous for the making of the sparkling-wines but because of certain reasons it lost its fame, however, now they are back in sparkling wine business (Hugh, 2007). So, now if we look back at the history of this wine we get to know that this type of wine was generally transported in wooden barrels of wine to England. Then, these wooden barrels were bottled by the merchant houses for sale. In the seventeenth century, the British started using cork stoppers that were previously utilized by all the Romans. In colder times of the year the temperatures were so modest that fermentation started to take place leaving merely the left over sugar and yeast behind (Bird, 2011). This used to happen as wine was transported to England and when the climate started to get warmer the wine would start to put up pressure from the CO2 gas. It was in 1662, that the first paper related to sparkling wine was written to understand the procedure of production for sparkling-wine and the issues related to it. This paper was written by Christopher Merret and it was before the time when French people even started making this type of wine (Simon, 2001). The initial and prime sparkling wine fermentation begins quite similar to the other wines. Maltolactic fermentation may be observed before by which the producers tend to make the wine fruitier. After this process the pedestal wines are supposed to be blended to make a curve. Most of the sparkling-wineis a blend of several varieties of grapes, vintages and vineyards (Michael, 2009). The method of a secondary fermentation separates the manufacturing of sparkling-wine from the rest of the wines by giving the wine a feature of having bubbles. Carbon dioxide is created as a byproduct of the fermentation process. It is due to the presence of this gas that an elevated pressure is created when the wine container is opened (Robinson, 2006). It has been found out that on an average Champagne makes up around 8 percent of the sparkling-wine making across the globe. A hallmark of Champagne wine is Blending. There are approximately nineteen thousand vineyards here and out of which only five thousand are owned by the producers of Champagne. Grapes most commonly the Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir, are utilized to produce a number of base wines. They are then assembled together to produce Champagne. Each grape typeis unique and contributes its own special attribute in the wine production (Neal, 2009). There are almost seven designations for sparkling wines with the appellation of Cremant in their names like Crémant-d'Alsace, Crémant-de-Die, Crémant-de-Limoux, “Crémant-du-Jura” Crémant-de-Bourgogne and Crémant-de-Loire. Other French sparkling wines with different designations are Gaillac AOC, Vouvray-AOC,Clairette de-Die-AOC,Montlouis-AOC, Blanquette-de-Limoux AOC, “AOC-Bourgogne-mousseux-“, “Blanquette-méthode-ancestrale-AOC-“,Crémant -de -Bordeaux, Saint-Péray-AOC, Anjou-mousseux -AOC, “Saumur-mousseux-AOC”, “Touraine-mousseux-AOC”, (James, 2010). The Portuguese version of sparkling-wine is known as Espimante. It is not just produced in north -west from Vinho Verde and also all through the Portugal Way-in from south Alentego to the north. A wine named “VFQPRD” is one of a regionally made by the conventional charmat, champagne, or shift method in place like Estremadura, Douro,Ribatejo or Minho, Alentejo. Another wine called “VQPRD” is one of the famous sparkling wine which can be made by introducing the wine by gas in the conventional champagne all round Portugal. Amongst all, the Espumosos is the cheapest sparkling wine available in Portugal.In Italy the expression “spumante" is used for sparkling-wine. Franciacorta of Lombardy, Asti of Piedmont , Lambrusco of Emilia, and Prosecco of Veneto are all famous wines that are made all through Spain. Trento DOC which is also a known sparkling wine available in the country. Franciacorta wines are produced in accordance with the traditional way whereas Asti and Prosecco, are manufactured with a Charmat process.Asti is little more sweeter than Proseccoi. Brescia is the largest segment and a housefor the production of Italy’s sparkling wine. Trento DOC a known term for red and white sparkling wines. Prosecco is prepared in both completely sparkling and semi sparkling styles (Robinson, 2006). A German term used for sparkling-wine is Sekt. The greater part of Sekt is madeby Charmat process. A semi sparkling wine which is known as Perlwein. Approximately 90% of Sekt that is prepared almost partly from imported wines from France, Spain and Italy. A number of the finest wines are generally produced by using the  Pinot Noirand Pinot Gris  grapes, Riesling, Pinot Blanc. Most of these are used locally in part of being exported (Neal, 2009). In Hungary,thiswine is called pezsgo. The beginning of significant sparkling wine production in Hungary is dated back to the first half of the 19th century. The first winners of sparkling­-wine were found near Pozsony. Soviet Champagne is the name used for the “sparkling wine” produced in the Soviet Union or SovetskoyeShampanskoye, it is mostly sweet. This designation continues to be utilized for sparkling-wine prepared in many countries including Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Armenia and Ukraine. Sparkling wine, mostly known as Panciu is produced in Romania. To make sure that the outstanding taste of the “sparkling wine” remains the same it is very important to serve it while it is very chilled. There should always be extra ice served with the wine for its drinkers to enjoy it to the most (Zeidner, 2009). As it is known that the bottle of sparkling-wine is pressurized so it is advised to open it carefully. If this type of wine is served in a tulip glass shaped the bubbling effect increases and it becomes even better (Sam, 2004). 1. Explain the four methods of production of sparkling-swine. The four major methods to produce sparkling wine are discussed as follows. The first method is by simply injecting carbon dioxide like to use for making soft drinks. This process produces bubbles but the bubbles disappear immediately. The next process is named Metodo Charmat. It was formed by a French vine cultivator who used the secondary fermentation process(Robinson, 2006). The 3rd method of production is method champenoise which are specifically used to produce high class sparkling wines and Champagne. The 4th production method is named transfer method. All these methods are discussed below. In the fermentation which is primarily the grapes are used that are picked soon when the acid level is higher in them and the levels of sugar are comparatively lower as compared to their actual time when they are best ready for use. First a natural sugar is converted into alcohol where the resulting carbon dioxide will be permitted to escape (Jancis, 2006). At this time the wine is too acidic. So here at this position of time the blend called Cuvee is accumulated using various vineyard wines. The conventional technique is the procedure used in France to make a sparkling wine called Champagne. This method is used to make Cava in Spain (Clive, 2008). After the procedure of most important fermentation the blending that is the assembly, bottling and the secondary fermentation starts to occur within the wine bottle. It is during the second time fermentation that trapped carbon dioxide in the wine. The pressure is determined by the level of sugar added (Rebecca, 2009). After this the bottle goes under a procedure acknowledged as riddling where the bottle is then kept on particular racks named pupitres at an angle of 45 degrees with the coronet cap pointing downwards. Disgorging is the next step that comes. In this step the lees and crown cap are removed and the different quantity of sugar is added and the liquid is removed as the requirement may be. After this dosage is observed before the final corking is done (Charles, 2010). Metodo Italiano is widely known as the Charmant process for making of sparkling-wine. In this type of production the wine goes under the fermentation that is secondary in the steel tanks that are stainless with enamel and then the bottled is put under pressure continuously. This is relatively a cheaper method for preparation of sparkling-wine (Simon, 2001). In the transfer method, the first step involves the following fermentation that is primarily the cuvee is shifted to the bottles in order to fulfill secondary fermentation (Fletcher, 2006). As soon as secondary type of fermentation has been completed and wine splurged the required time period in the pot after adding lees yeast then the bottles are moved into a comparatively larger tank individually. Now, this wine is filtered and filled again in new bottles. The reason for doing this is to permit complexity to get built into the wine. This in addition provides a capacity for combination options, later than wine has moved in a bottle and lessens bottle on bottle alterations (Robinson, 2006). In the gas injection method the “sparkling-wine” produced is pretty cheap by simply injecting the carbon dioxide gas through a Carbonator. Such a method is permitted in the “European Union”. Almost sparkling wines produced through this method surely use the expressions “aerated sparkling wine” and sparkling wine that is semi aerated (Hugh, 2007). Most of Champagne formed is a nonvintage that means a merge of wines for many years. Generally, the most varieties of wine is from present year but a proportion is prepared by storing wine as in earlier years. This is done be introducing a few of the typical changes caused by the secondary growing environment of Champagne. This is the mainly northerly wine producing area in France (Daniel, 2003). The grapes used to make vintage Champagne should be totally from the time when the grapes are produced of good quality. To keep up the class of nonvintage Champagne, almost half of the grapes reaped in that year can be utilized in the manufacturing of vintage Champagne and keep the remaining half for the next manufacturing season it will maintain the real nonvintage Champagne taste. Vintage Champagne is the item of a sole high-class year and bottles are from the impressive manufacturers and should be exceptional and classy (Neal, 2009). 2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of all the four methods of sparkling-wine production. All the methods of wine production that are traditional, aeration, charmat and transfer have some advantages and disadvantages associated with them. In Traditional method the bottling of the bottom wineis done with yeast and sugar. The secondary fermentation takes place in a bottle. Then the yeast is removed through riddling. The bottle is then topped and sealed by a cork. Like for example the most extensively used for excellent sparkling wines can be the Champagne. The advantage of this method is that it is widely famous for making the product with the top quality. But at the same time it is expensive in terms of time, space and labor (Joseph, 2000). Aeration is another method used to produce sparkling wine. It is a method that involves the dissolution of carbon dioxide in a pressurized tank into the wine. It is used to produce the cheapest of all the “sparkling wines”. There are several advantages and disadvantages associated with this method. The advantages include that it is cheap, quick and easy in performance. Whereas the disadvantages include that no lee contact effect is there, the bubbles are larger and more aggressive and the bottled is labeled to be aerated (Matt, 2004). Another method that is the charmat or bulk process is that yeast and sugar are put into the base wine in a pressurized tank that consists of agilators meant to enhance the yeast contact. Once fermentation is done, cooled down the yeast, clarified, after that bottled it under pressure. Like for example,Prosecco and German Sekt. The advantages of this method are that it achieves economies of space and scale. It produces a better product in terms of homogeneity. It can lead to the production of fruity wine styles. The disadvantages include that it has a lesser lees contact outcome (Kermit, 1990). Wine is mixed with yeast and sugar then endures secondary AF inside bottle in the transfer method. Wine is chilled, bottles poured out into massive tanks, then wine filtered &rebottled. This way is also brought into action in the USA and Australia. The advantages include that it is same superiority to customary method. It is labeled as fermented inside the bottle. But at the same time this method is expensive as the machinery involved in this are pretty expensive (Neal, 2009). So, it has been said that several wine faults can occur in sparkling wine production. Some that were present in early production methods include viscous bubbles as a result of the wine spending too much time in wooden casks. Another fault can take place when the wine is uncovered to bacteria or direct sunlight, leaving the wine with foggy coloring and an oily quality. Therefore, one needs to be very careful with the manufacturing of sparkling-wine by using any of the methods (Hugh, 2007). References Bird, D. (2011) Understanding Wine Technology, San Francisco: Wine Appreciation Guild. Charles, T. (2010) A Guide to the Finest Wine Producers, New York: Sterling. Clive, C. (2008) The Wines of Burgundy, California: University of California Press. Daniel, J. (2003) Daniel Johnnes’s Top 200 Wines: An Expert’s Guide to Maximum Enjoyment for Your Dollar, New York: Penguin Books. Fletcher, J. (2006)‘Wine Merchants’, New York: North Point Press. Hugh, J. (2007) World atlas of wine, London: Mitchell Beazley. James, L. (2010) The finest wines of bordeaux: a regional guide to the best châteaux and their wines. Berkeley, California: University of California Press-Fine Wine Editions. Jancis, R. (2006) ‘Master of wine’ Oxford: Oxford University Press. Joseph, D. (2000) The River Cafe Wine Primer, New York: Little, Brown and Company. Kermit, L. (1990) Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer’s Tour of France, New York: North Point Press. Matt, K. (2004) Making Sense of Wine, Philadelphia: Running Press. Michael, E. (2009) The finest wines of champagne: a guide to the best Cuvées, Houses, and Growers, University of California Press-Fine Wine Editions. Neal, R. (2009) Reflections of a Wine Merchant, New York: North Point Press. Rebecca, G. (2009) ‘How Wine is Made’, London: Mitchell Beazley. Robinson, J. (2006) The Oxford companion to wine, New York: Oxford University Press. Sam, P. (2004) ‘Noses Seek Wine Geekdom's Biggest Prize’, The New York Times Simon, W. (2001) Vine to Bottle: How Wine is Made, London: Mitchell Beazley. Zeidner, A. (2009) ‘Guide to the Finest Wine Production’, New York: Sterling. Read More