tonyhibbett
Landlord.
Having completed bottling 9 gallons of unremarable white wine from what I now believe to be my Muller Thurgau grapes, I contacted the groundsman at Leeds Castle (in Kent) where they have a vineyard of 50% MT and 50% Seyval for some advice on this variety, only to discover that, as of this year, they leave the grapes to rot as they are only good for 'Liebfraumilch' type wine, for which folks are not prepared to pay the high prices for English wine, which why sparkling wine is now in vogue, and even the French think it's good.
I tried making sparkling wine using the Champagne method and it's hard work, so I thought I'd try a short cut. I bought a Sodastream jet from Argos on special offer at £37. They are designed to make sparkling water in 1 litre batches, using their special bottles. This works fine but for wine it needs a slightly different approach, because it has a different density.
First you have to fill the special stong plastic bottle (2 are supplied) with well-chilled liquid (normally water) up to a mark so that the gas injector is in the liquid. A standard wine bottle holds a little less, so you have to top it up. You then screw the bottle in place and depress a button until a buzzer sounds to indicate the level of carbonation. With wine, this happens far too late and when you attempt to remove the bottle, excess gas escapes along with some of the wine, which is messy and wasteful. The solution, presumably, is to make a note of the number of button presses required for sparkling water and use the same for wine without waiting for the buzzer.
At this piont you can either drink the wine, or screw on the cap and drink it later, or transfer it back to the wine bottle. What I actually did was pour some in a glass and sampled it. Champagne it was not, but a pleasant vin mousseux and a significant improvement.
I then carefully poured it all back into the wine bottle, holding it at an angle as tyou would fill a glass. This had to be done in stages, due to the foam. The bottle was then capped with a tight-fitting plastic stopper, although a screw cap would suffice. You don't need champagne bottles and wire cages, because the pressure is not high enough to require it.The gas cylinder supplied is enough for up to 60 litres and when it runs out, you can exchange it for a few pounds.
I tried making sparkling wine using the Champagne method and it's hard work, so I thought I'd try a short cut. I bought a Sodastream jet from Argos on special offer at £37. They are designed to make sparkling water in 1 litre batches, using their special bottles. This works fine but for wine it needs a slightly different approach, because it has a different density.
First you have to fill the special stong plastic bottle (2 are supplied) with well-chilled liquid (normally water) up to a mark so that the gas injector is in the liquid. A standard wine bottle holds a little less, so you have to top it up. You then screw the bottle in place and depress a button until a buzzer sounds to indicate the level of carbonation. With wine, this happens far too late and when you attempt to remove the bottle, excess gas escapes along with some of the wine, which is messy and wasteful. The solution, presumably, is to make a note of the number of button presses required for sparkling water and use the same for wine without waiting for the buzzer.
At this piont you can either drink the wine, or screw on the cap and drink it later, or transfer it back to the wine bottle. What I actually did was pour some in a glass and sampled it. Champagne it was not, but a pleasant vin mousseux and a significant improvement.
I then carefully poured it all back into the wine bottle, holding it at an angle as tyou would fill a glass. This had to be done in stages, due to the foam. The bottle was then capped with a tight-fitting plastic stopper, although a screw cap would suffice. You don't need champagne bottles and wire cages, because the pressure is not high enough to require it.The gas cylinder supplied is enough for up to 60 litres and when it runs out, you can exchange it for a few pounds.
