# ***SPARKLING APPLE WINE****



## NorthernWinos (Feb 9, 2008)

A good day to mix up a batch of wine....


Went down to the 'spare bedroom/juice/wine aging' room...Checked out my stash...









We are poor simple folks...but we do always share a bottle of bubbly wine on Saturday night....now we make our own....


~~~~~~~~~~~~SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


***************SPARKLING APPLE WINE*******************


22 QUARTS APPLE JUICE [S.G. 1.040]
6# SUGAR
6 1/2 CAMPDEN TABLETS
5 TSP ACID BLEND
5 TSP LIQUID TANNIN
1 TSP ASCORBIC ACID
3 TSP PECTIC ENZYME


SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER [ 1 QT] TO ABOUT 6 1/2 GALLON TOTAL


S.G. 1.086


TOMORROW:
3 TSP YEAST ENERGIZER
6TSP YEAST NUTRIENT
LALVIN EC-1118 YEAST








FERMENT AS USUAL...


----------



## Joanie (Feb 9, 2008)

Sounds good! Looks delicious!


----------



## smokegrub (Feb 9, 2008)

Was your apple juice produced by steam-juicing?


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 9, 2008)

Yes, I steam juiced the apple juice...They were Harlson apples...Kind of a tart apple....I usually blend the juices...but went with one batch of juice on this wine.


----------



## jobe05 (Feb 10, 2008)

I wish I could make a sparkling apple like you do NW........ But they never taste right using store bought apple juices.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 10, 2008)

I was wondering what store bought apple juice wine would be like in a Sparkling Wine....


We use store bought juice plus add some frozen apple concentrate in the carbonated Apple Cider we make....Maybe try a gallon...use juice plus frozen concentarate....You won't be out much.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 10, 2008)

Thought I was a little low on volume...so added 2 more quarts [some jars are largerthen a quart] of juice and a little more sugar....


S.G. now 1.085 and volume of 6.5 gallons...I like to have a little extra must for topping up.


Pitched the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast...


Now wait for the magic to happen......


----------



## Joanie (Feb 10, 2008)

Don't you just love it?? It's such an exciting time in winemaking!


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 11, 2008)

The yeast is alive and well...Will smell good in here by morning....


I love this hobby more with each batch...the thrill never goes away!!!!


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 20, 2008)

Racked the Saturday Night Special ***Sparkling Apple Wine*** again and topped it up...






The last two "Special Occasions"..Thursday and Saturday night we opened some Sparkling Wine that was 2 years old...IT WAS FLAT!!!!! So...may I suggest...Drink your Sparkling Wine within a year or two. Lucky we only have 2 more bottles of that vintage left.


----------



## Wade E (Feb 20, 2008)

Must of had slow leakers. were they stored standing up? This is what I do as 2 of the batch I had were spraying a very fine mist and is was so fine I couldnt even tell where the heck it was coming from at first. This is why I want to eventually buy a Champagne corker to use Champagne corks.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 20, 2008)

We had drank up a newer batch and was saving the old ones as they were so sparkly and crisp flavored....they are over 2 years old...never had any stick aroundthat long before.
With the first one I thought it was a bad stopper, but the second one was also flat...2 more to go and that batch is gone....that's good.


They were stored upright as always....The stoppers looked good and were very tight, Jim had to use a pliars to twist them off....I threw the stoppersout, just incase they were defective.


----------



## farmer (Feb 20, 2008)

NW How does the sparking wine compare to your carbonated hard cider? I made a batch of carbonated hard cider and bottled it in beer bottles it is GREAT! I Will always have a supply on hand.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 20, 2008)

The Sparkling Wine is much more carbonated....using Champagne yeast and white table sugar as a primer makes it much more bubbly and the bubbles are smaller and last longer.


We love our Hard Apple Cider too...The bubbles are more like beer, due to using corn sugar as a primer and no yeast.....It gets a nice head too.


Thatis one of the next batches to be mixed....have all the ingredients now...We have to have it ready for summer...those go down real good after a hot day outside...kind of a good primer to the evening....or a great breakfast beverage..






A batch made now will be ready for spring sipping....


Farmer....What yeast did you use??? 


I have several yeasts and am thinking of trying something different. Have liked the Munton's Ale Yeast as well as the Lalvin EC-1118...Thinking about maybe trying Red Star Côte des Blancs or even Lavin K1V-1116...both are recommended for Cider too...Suggestions anyone?????


----------



## farmer (Feb 20, 2008)

I used Red Star Cote des Blancs. I used corn sugar and the bubbles are more like a sparkling wine or champagne not a smooth head like beer . The only thing I did different is I added3/4 pd of sugar to5 gallons of cider at bottling . (mistake)It should have been 3/4 cup. The bottles foam over when you open them but the fizz is great.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Feb 20, 2008)

Thanks...I will try the Red Star Côte des Blancs next time.


I was kind of wondering about the 3/4 cup or 3/4# thing too....Two batches ago I used 10oz [by weight] of corn sugar = 1+1/4 cup to 6 gallons...I put it in the laundry room over the floor drain...It was just fine....did it the last batch the sameand will probably use that much next time....nice carbonation in those batches.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Mar 1, 2008)

*Update....after have 2 bottles of bubbly that had lost it's carbonation...the last 2 of that batch have been wonderfully carbonated.


So...the two duds must have had a cracked plastic cork, as the stoppers were very tight...Or.... maybe a malfunction during dégorging....Or...one of life's mysteries.


With bubbly wine...Life is Good!!!!!!!....or...even better than that!!!!


----------



## Wade E (Mar 1, 2008)

I know that Sparkling wine can be kept for long periods of time and thats why I figured the stoppers were defective. I will eventually get the champagne corker cause my 1st and only sparkling batch went OK but I lost way to much to keep doing it this way. I think all together I lost 6 bottles out of the 27 that I made and I still have 14 in my basement that I havent opened yet so that could go up quite considerably!


----------



## NorthernWinos (Mar 1, 2008)

Eventually I loose all the bottles to 'consumption'.


These were the only two that lost their carbonation due to defective stoppers..or...dégorgement failure.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Apr 13, 2008)

The wine has cleared nicely.....









Would have bottled it today, but it was just too nice outside....Will keep that chore for a rainy day...or...when ever....


----------



## NorthernWinos (Apr 25, 2008)

Cold, windy and gloomy outside today...a good day to bottle 'The Saturday Night Special' ***Sparkling Apple Wine****







Forgot to taste it....



What was I thinking....


----------



## NorthernWinos (Apr 28, 2008)

Kept the "Saturday Night Special' **Sparkling Wine** upstairs in the office to try and get the yeast fermenting in the bottle....downstairs was a tad chilly as we don't light a wood fire this time of the year.






The fermentation seems to be coming along nicely as seen through the clear bottle...[the window of activity]






Will keep it up here for a couple weeks.


----------



## JWMINNESOTA (Apr 28, 2008)

Looking good NW, I've got a case of Sparkling Cherry just started the riddling, think I'm hooked. Found some scrap wood and putting a riddling rack together, may make a larger one if it works out.


----------



## NorthernWinos (Apr 28, 2008)

JWMINNESOTA said:


> Looking good NW, I've got a case of Sparkling Cherry just started the riddling, think I'm hooked. Found some scrap wood and putting a riddling rack together, may make a larger one if it works out.



What is your riddling rack going to be like??? Please share your plans!!!!

We have been looking to have my hubby build one like this....






A member called Hammered on another Forum built it [yes, there is another Forum] I dug out the lumber to do it...just can't bother Jim at this time of the year to build it.


----------



## JWMINNESOTA (Apr 30, 2008)

I didnt really have a plan, just looked at the scraps available and started drilling








Maybe next weekend I'll get some good wood and build a larger version, this one will hold ten, so not enough for a full batch, but good enough to see it would work and not take up too much space.


----------



## JWMINNESOTA (May 6, 2008)

Turned out not much to look at but functional. Guess there is always plenty of time to decide what type to build in the future, but it is kinda neat to look at the bottles without having to pull them out of a box. Maybe two like you posted NW, only put together in a tepee fashion, that might be cool.


----------



## NorthernWinos (May 6, 2008)

Looks good to me......

Mine are in plastic crates and cardboard dividers....


----------



## NorthernWinos (Nov 29, 2008)

We have been dègorging the ***Saturday Night Special***...and tasting a bottle with each batch we do....

This batch just doesn't have the bubbles it should....?

I don't think I shook it enough when the yeast was working...
Live and Learn....Do as I say not as I do....


----------



## Wade E (Nov 29, 2008)

Now that is cool!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------

