Sekt Wine, Explain Sekt wine, What is Sekt wine

Sekt wine speaks to explain Sekt wine and what is Sekt wine both manufacture and history of such.

This is a type of German sparkling wine with an effervescence which is caused by carbon dioxide in the bottle. The carbon dioxide may be a result of natural fermentation or as a result of the carbon dioxide being injected into the bottle.

The best known sparkling wine is the French champagne and others are Espumante as produced in Portugal, Cava in Spain, Asti in Italy and Cap Classique in South Africa.

Significant amounts of sparkling wine are also produced in California, United States and there is beginning to be significant production in the United Kingdom.

Sparkling wine is usually white or rose but there are more than a few red sparkling wines produced.

The level of sugar or sweetness of sparkling sekt wines will range from very dry “brut” and sweeter “doux” varieties.

At first effervescence was not understood and was discouraged because this appearance of bubbles was not understood and was at first referred to as “The Devils Wine”.

The British were the first to notice that wines from the Champagne area of France actually “sparkled” and considered it a desired trait. To be able to contain the wine without the bottle breaking the British developed a stronger bottle.

Due to the colder climate of the Champagne area the fermentation process was often prematurely halted and when it was rebottled in England and the fermentation process again started the obvious explosions occurred.

While harvesting grapes destined for sparkling wine, premium producers will take extra care to handle the grapes as gently as possible in order to minimize the extraction of harsh phenolic compounds from the skin.

As with most sparkling wines the primary fermentation begins the same as most other wines. It is not unusual for winemakers to add yeasts that are cultivated especially for sparkling wines.

It is through the initiation of a secondary fermentation that distinguishes sparkling wine production and gives the wine its characteristic "bubbles".

One of the by products of fermentation is the creation of carbon dioxide gas. While this gas is able to be released during the first fermentation, efforts are taken during the second fermentation to retain the gas and have it dissolve into the wine.

This creates a massive amount of pressure within the wine bottle (on average around 5 atmospheres) and wine producers take care to package the wine in strong glass bottles. When the wine is open and poured into a glass, the gas is released and the wine becomes sparkling.

The recognized levels of sweetness of sparkling wines are:

Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per liter)

Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter)

Brut (less than 15 grams of sugar per liter)

Extra Sec or Extra Dry (12 to 20 grams of sugar per liter)

Sec (17 to 35 grams of sugar per liter)

Demi-Sec (33 to 50 grams of sugar per liter)

Doux (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter)


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