928 20 Alcoholic Beverages
the sparkling wine production is now based
on fermentation of wine in pressurized steel
tanks instead of in bottles. The carbon dioxide-
saturated wine is clarified and filtered and then
chilled thoroughly and bottled. Fermentation is
carried out at a pressure of about 7 bar over a 3 to
4 week period.
20.2.9.3 Carbonation Process
The carbonation of wine (“vin mousseux gacéi-
fié”) involves artificial saturation of wine with
carbon dioxide, instead of the natural CO 2
developed during fermentation. Thus, the process
is identical to the production of carbonated
mineral water. The second fermentation, sugar
addition and disgorging are omitted. However,
sweetening with liqueur, corking and cork wiring
are all retained. Perl wine is also a wine with
artificially added carbon dioxide, which has
a pressure limited to 2.5 bar, in comparison with
“sekt”.
20.2.9.4 Various Types of Sparkling Wines
Champagne is obtained by the classical bottle
fermentation of wine from the French grape
which grows in the region of Champagne.
Sparkling wines produced in this region are
the only ones that may be sold under the name
of “Champagne”. German sparkling wines are
called “Schaumwein” and are commonly sold as
“Sekt”; such Italian wines are “Spumante”; while
in Spain and Portugal they are “Espumante”.
According to the residual sugar content (g/l), sekt
is classified as extra brut (0–6), brut (0–15), ex-
tra dry (12–20), dry (17–35), semi-dry (35–50) or
mild (>50). Sparkling wine for diabetics is sweet-
ened with sorbitol. Sparkling wines are also made
from fruit and berry wines (apple, pear, white
and red currant, bilberry). The process is that de-
scribed above for carbonation.
20.2.10 Wine-Like Beverages
Compositions of some typical wine-like products
are given in Table 20.26.
Table 20.26.Composition of some wine-like
beveragesaBeverage Alcohol Extract Acidsb Sugar Miner-
alsApple cider 58. 423. 43. 8 + 1. 72. 8
Cidre 51. 029. 72. 8 + 10. 42. 6
Pear wine 49. 353. 76. 5 + 9. 04. 1
Red currant
cider 62. 139. 818. 6 ∗ 1. 84. 0
Gooseberry
cider 96. 378. 67. 5 ∗ 55. 81. 8
Sour cherry
cider 101. 462. 711. 7 ∗ 3. 83. 61
Malt wine 70. 624. 54. 6 + 4. 91. 36
Malton
sherry 123.0 115. 28. 1 + 55. 92. 3
Mead 51 .4 242. 43. 9 + 208. 01. 34
Sake 121. 228. 65. 7 + 5. 51. 0
aResults are given in g/l.
bAcids are calculated as malic (+) or citric acid (∗).20.2.10.1 Fruit WinesFor the production of fruit wine, pressed juice
(fruit must) is made from apples, pears, cherries,
plums, peaches, red currants, gooseberries,
bilberries, cranberries, raspberries, hip berries
and rhubarb. In general, the process used is the
same as that for making wine from grapes. Apple
and pear mash are first pressed and the pressed
juice (must) is fermented, while berry mash is
fermented directly in order to extract the color
pigments. Natural fermentation is suppressed
by inoculation with pure, cultured yeast (cold-
fermenting yeast). The vigor of the fermentation
of berry musts, which are nitrogen deficient,
is increased by addition of small amounts of
ammonium salts (fermentation salts). Lactic acid
(3 g/l) is added to acid-deficient musts, such
as that from pears, in order to achieve a clear
ferment and, often, sucrose solutions are added
to berry and fruit musts to alleviate acidity. The
yield and quality of pome fruit must is improved
by mixing 9 parts of fruit residue with 1 part of
water and adding sucrose to raise the density of
the must to 55 Oechsle degrees.
Fruit wines are produced industrially in many
countries, e. g., apple wine, which is called
cider in France, the UK and the USA, and pear