Bottling

After 3 days at 20°C, the liqueur de tirage was ready to be added to the rest of the wine along with some more sugar. It had only got down to a specific gravity of 1.048, but this if fine, it just meant having to put a little less sugar in for the final addition.

Here are the figures from the spreadsheet showing that the final addition of sugar required was 398g.

Before adding the sugar and liqueur I racked the wine off the sediment, then stirred in the sugar and liqueur. It’s really important to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved and the wine is well stirred, otherwise you could end up with some bottles with not enough fizz and others that risk explosion which would not be fun.

After filling each bottle, they were sealed with a bidule, a small plastic hollow plug in which the yeast collects during the riddling stage, and a crown cap on top of the bidule.

My original calculations were spot on and I ended up with 30 bottles, which are now lying on their sides in the cellar, the best place to keep them at a constant 12°C for secondary fermentation. Ideally they will sit here for 18 months, but I will take a few bottles out in 6 months time to have some ready for Christmas and leave the rest for the following year.