The story of bubbles

Traditional method

The basis of a good sparkling wine is a good quality still wine. We usually choose wines from several varieties, which are combined to create a cuvée. Thanks to their specific characteristics, the individual varieties will be reflected in the characteristics of the future sparkling wine. But before a still wine becomes a sparkling wine, a great story unfolds.

First, the cuvée is infused with a liqueur (a mixture of wine and sugar) and yeast. The resulting tirage is rolled into bottles, sealed with a crown cap, and the secondary fermentation begins. The yeast converts the sugar thus supplied into alcohol and, at the same time, carbon dioxide is produced as a by-product of fermentation – this creates bubbles, a typical feature of sparkling wine. The fermentation process takes five to six weeks and then the sparkling wine is ready. But that’s not all.

To age properly, we let the sparkling wine “lie on the yeast lees” for at least nine, but usually twelve, fifteen or even thirty-six months or more. Slow and long maturation is the most important thing for the quality of sparkling wines. The yeast lees in the bottles must then be shaken off at the cork and then removed.

The bottles are first placed either in wooden racks (called pupitres) or in wire baskets (called gyropallets). At the beginning of the shaking (remucking), the bottles are in a horizontal position, while at the end their necks point towards the ground. When the crown cap is released, the yeast that has accumulated on the stopper is removed. This process is known as decalcification or degassing.

The sparkling wine has to be topped up with expedition liqueur (a mixture of wine and sugar), the neck closed with a cork stopper and secured with a wire basket (agraffe). The bottles then go back to the cellar where they will sit for at least a few more weeks. Before they finally leave the production process, the sparkling wines are fitted with capsules to cover the bottle necks and labels with information about the sparkling wine. The experienced customer then reads the label as if it were a book and learns all the essential details from it.

Our premium brand Bohemia Sekt Prestige, our longest continuously produced sparkling wine Chateau Radyně and the exceptional vintage Louis Girardot, which was tasted by the British Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Prague, are produced in Starý Plzenec using the traditional method.

Charmat method

The beginning of the journey of sparkling wines produced using the Charmat and traditional methods is always the same. In both cases, we first carefully select the wines for the base cuvée. The difference comes down to where the cuvée goes in the next step.

In the Charmat method, bottle fermentation, which is typical of the traditional method, is replaced by fermentation in large pressure vessels. The largest cuvée container in Starý Plzenec can hold over a million bottles. The sparkling wine is bottled only at the end of the entire production process, which takes at least six months. The Charmat method is used to produce the most popular domestic brand of sparkling wine made in Starý Plzenec – the famous Bohemia Sekt. Whenever there is a small or big reason to enjoy moments together, Bohemia Sekt has always been there for more than half a century.

Take the bottle cooled to 4-6°C and remove the capsule. Release the agrafu and secure the cork with your thumb. Grasp the cork firmly with one hand and twist the bottle with the other, ideally at a 45° supine angle. The opening should be inaudible and no foaming should occur. Pour the sekt into glasses shaped like a tulip blossom until about half full. Cheers!

Serve Bohemia Sekt ICE mainly on the rocks! Put ice in a larger glass. Pour ICE chilled to 4-6°C. Garnish the sparkling wine with mint, which perfectly accentuates the taste. Enjoy with friends.

Serve Bohemia Sekt Ice PiNK! mainly on ice! Put ice in a large glass. Pour PiNK! chilled to 4-6°C. Garnish with raspberry and mint to bring out the aroma. Enjoy with friends.