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Tank method sparkling

SparklingPartly set by law

The second fermentation happens in a pressure tank and the wine is bottled under counter-pressure. Keeps primary fruit aroma that the traditional method trades away for bready lees character.

The numbers

Each bar drawn against all 30 styles

Alcohol

10.5-12.5%

10.5% - 12.5%

Titratable acidity

5.5-7.5 g/L

5.5 - 7.5

pH

3-3.4

3.0 - 3.4

Residual sugar

6-35 g/L

6 - 35

Serve at

6-8 C

Worth opening after

3 months

and it keeps improving to roughly 2 years

Sulphite at pH 3.20

20 mg/L

free SO2, for 0.8 mg/L molecular

What goes wrong

Needing equipment you do not have. Without a pressure-rated tank and a counter-pressure filler this is not a home method, and a keg is the closest workable substitute.

Usually made from

At least one of these figures is set by an appellation or labelling rule somewhere. The rest are typical published analyses of commercial examples.