Sparkling wine question

I have done this following Lum Eisenman's instructions, and had good results. Here is the link:

Read Chapter 20 for sparkling wines.

The amount of carbonation you get does depend on the amount of sugar you add, IF you successfully re-start fermentation. Just adding sugar, or yeast, or both may not be adequate. I add the sugar to the base wine, then re-start fermentation gradually from a yeast starter, following the procedure for a 'stuck fermentation'.

that's 9 oz. of sugar; I think a cup of sugar is around 7 oz., so that works out to around 1 1-4 cups. That would at least get you into the reasonable range.

When the second fermentation is active, bottle in champagne-style bottles using crown caps (metal bottle caps). These are much easier to pop off during the disgorging process. I use the plastic champagne stoppers and wire hoods after disgorging.

Fermentation in the bottle takes several weeks, at least. I usually start the "riddling" phase after 3 months or more, as the contact time with the yeast is supposed to be beneficial. If you add any sweetener during the disgorging process, I'd recommend adding some sorbate to the sugar syrup, to prevent yet another fermentation. The whole process usually takes me 6 to 12 months, but it is very satisfying to do the disgorging, and wire down the plastic stoppers on the finished product.

Happy fermenting --

Doug