This May I spent a morning with Kim Kramer and her folks at Kramer Vineyards helping them disgorge 10 cases of sparkling wine. We shot video to make a short primer on the finishing process after secondary fermentation has occurred in the bottle.
Photos from the Disgorging Process
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- Encapsulated yeast seen in a bottle of sparkling wine
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- Keith placing bottles neck down in freezing solution
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- Homemade bottle rack to freeze yeast in the bottle neck
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- Bottles ready to be disgorged
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- Removing the crown cap from the frozen bottles
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- Discarded crown caps and capsules
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- Frozen plugs work their way out due to pressure in the bottle
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- Waiting for frozen plugs to pop
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- Sometimes the plug needs a little coaxing
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- Plugs have shot out, bottles ready to top
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- A dispenser that measures and accurate dosage for each bottle
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- Kim Kramer adding dosage to the finished sparkling wine
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- Corks and cages
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- The corking machine
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- Twisting the cage on to secure the cork in place
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- Mushrooming the cork out to fit the cage
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- Finished bottles
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- Half the days finished bottles
