So I asked Adobe Roads winemaker Garrett Martin what method he uses to create sparkling wine and his answer was just too good not to share verbatim:
“This is a good story! My production space is right next to Lagunitas brewery. The folks over there are fantastic and good friends. When I got the creative inspiration to make a sparkling rosé I walked next door and chatted with them about the process – I mean, they make beverages sparkle every day! With some of their advice, I began running small scale experiments adding CO2 to kegs of rosé and eventually bottling in swing-top bottles. We had enough positive feedback that we took it from that ‘proof of concept’ phase to full production. I bottled the full-package bottling with another friend who has a sparkling wine bottling line. The short answer is that I use the Charmat method, but I like the full story more!”
Next I have to ask him about the time he put the sparkling rosé into a keg-tapping system designed for beer’s low-level carbonation. “Boom! Rosé mess everywhere…” 