Sparkling Chardonnay?

Radiowaves

Hi, I am a great fan of the Cellar 7 range of wine kits, my favourite being the Chardonnay.

I was wondering whether by replacing the standard yeast with a champagne yeast I could make a sparkling Chardonnay? Do you think this would work OK and would ordinary corks be suitable when its bottled? Many thanks for any advice.

HBO_Staff

Making a wine sparkling is often down to when you bottle it, they tend to be bottled just before the fermentation is complete, and then need to be stored in suitably strong bottles with suitable lids, never use wine bottles as they will not hold pressure. Many people use swing top bottles with the ceramic swing top lids such as these for drinks such as elderflower champagne;

http://www.home-brew-online.com/equipment-c40/bottles-c43/swing-top-bottles-12-pk-p680

There are books on making sparkling wines such as this;

http://www.home-brew-online.com/books-c69/making-sparkling-wines-p1319