Your method did emulate the bulk transfer method or Charmat; they pressurize the bottles also to avoid losing pressure in the transfer and use a higher initial pressure.
I start with a similar dry base wine and add 18 g table sugarbottle to the batch I am making, usually a 5 gallon carboy. I add hydrated yeast to that and as soon as I'm sure it's fermenting I bottle, stirring as I bottle. I fill the bottles to 1-2 to 3-4 inch full and cap with a crown cap. I lay them on their sides in the wine cellar and forget about them for a few years, (I should rotate them every 6 months but it rarely happens.)
The traditional method of disgorging is very easy. The trick is to get all the yeast and sediment into the neck and freeze it. I use a riddling rack and that takes a month of turning the bottle about 1-5 of a turn and tilting the point down a little each day. I have one so I use it. It's harder to make than you might think, so another method follows.
AgingIf a wine tastes yeasty, it is probably because it still has yeast in it. It has not totally cleared...
You can get just about the same effect by shaking up the bottle (I wear a face shield just in case) and placing it into the empty wine bottle box. Pick it up an inch and drop it back in each day fro a week or so.
Best Temp for secondary 25Ray, When I first started making these batches from Welch's frozen concentrate, I would start them in a carboy with a bung and airlock. I was following...
Once the sediment is all in the neck, make some room in the freezer and place 2 bottles in sitting straight up on the neck. 30 -45 minutes later you will see the neck freeze a plug; once it's about 2 inches or 5 cm long, pull it out of the freezer, rinse the neck quickly with warm water (neck still down) and take it outside with an uncapper in your hand. The whole time this bottle is pointed mostly straight down.
Turn the bottle up pointed away from you and pop off the cap in one motion; as soon as the cap is off and plug clear place your thumb over the opening. Ensure there is no debris from the plug on the lip and cork or recap. The plug of ice cleans off the sides of the bottle on it's way out, it's an elegant solution. (Thank the widow Clicquot; if her husband hadn't died we may still be drinking cloudy wine...) A clean thumb is a very good idea... :)
If you want it sweet this is when you add a sugar syrup. I make up some fruity white wine and sugar at about a 50-50 mix ahead of time. Tilt the bottle and let it slide down the side, don't drip it in. One ounce or 30 ml of this makes a pretty sweet sparkler, you can certainly go higher though. Just make sure you have room in the bottle. Some add a touch of sulfite or brandy here too as a preservative.
You can top with still wine if you lose too much the first few times but after about 5 bottles you will develop a technique that works well. It really is easier than it sounds. It's all common sense stuff.
You need to close this bottle as soon as possible so you need to have everything ready, I usually uncap, make sure the inside of the neck is clean and use one of those spring loaded champagne re-stoppers. Since you are working near 0 F you don't lose much pressure at all. I'm still using plastic corks so I need to whack them in with a rubber mallet, then I wire down. Some wine makers are just using crown caps again, that woks too.
I follow the technique outlined in "Modern Winemaking" by Phillip Jackisch. I think it's a very under rated reference book for winemakers. I know Lum has a very good section on sparkling winemaking too and if you can read this post you have access to his book.
Hope this helped, if anything is a little fuzzy I will keep an eye on this thread and try to answer.
Joe
