🍷 Carbonation

Carbonation is the simplest way to make a wine sparkling. Carbon dioxide is pumped into a finished still wine under pressure, much as in making soda. There is no second fermentation.

The method is fast and cheap, so it is used for inexpensive sparkling wines. Their bubbles are usually larger and fade faster in the glass than in wines where the gas formed during fermentation in a bottle or tank.

In the European Union such wines must be kept separate from the rest. They are called aerated sparkling wine if the pressure is at least 3 bar, and aerated semi-sparkling wine if it is 1 to 2.5 bar. The label must say the gas was added.

Carbonation is also used for wine cocktails and canned drinks. It is not used for quality sparkling wines, where yeast makes the bubbles, as in the traditional method. Carbonation belongs to the wider topic of wine and how it is made.