Students of viticulture and winemaking at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin will produce not only wine, but also sparkling wine prepared using the champagne method. This year, it was possible to gather all the equipment that will be needed for the course.
The process is not very complicated. Previously prepared ‘still’ wine is poured into a special champagne bottle (which can withstand pressure of up to 12 bar), then sugar and champagne yeast are added there.
After several months of ageing in the bottle, a natural gas is produced and, on occasion, also an unwanted yeast sediment, which has to be got rid of. This is possible thanks to the use of a recently purchased technological line – a bottle neck freezer, a ‘degorging’ (sediment removal), ‘liqueur d’expédition dosing’ (sugar addition) device and a corking machine. The cost of the three pieces of equipment purchased is over £150,000.
