Chemeketa Community College Wine Studies And Radiant Sparkling Wine Build A New Bubbly - 04/13/22

Chemeketa Wine Studies Students and Radiant Sparkling Wine Company have created sparkling Brut Rose using the Champenoise method

Salem, Oregon, April 13, 2022 — For the past five years, the Radiant Sparkling Wine Company, located in McMinnville, Oregon, has donated its wine bottling services to Chemeketa Community College’s Wine Studies program in the development of the college’s sparkling wine. Radiant works exclusively with méthode Champenoise sparkling wines and their clients include many winery owners throughout Oregon. Using their clients’  blended base wines, Radiant develops a unique yeast culture. Once appropriately aged to produce the elegant and soft tiny bubbles, Radiant then develops a specific liqueur de tirage, which is tailored to the winemaker’s vision. This is added to feed the yeast for the secondary fermentation in the bottle, which is what makes bubbly wines bubble. The wines are then riddled—the process of twisting of bottles back and forth to accumulate sediment into the crown cap—and disgorged—the removal of the yeast after fermentation. Finally, the bottles are packaged using Radiant’s advanced and specialized equipment. The whole process takes about three to ten years, depending on the winemaker. 

This March, Chemeketa Community College’s Wine Studies students, who are enrolled in Wine Production 245 taught by instructor Johnny Brose, visited Radiant’s McMinnville warehouse to meet with the owner, Andrew Davis, and his production team. During the visit, the students had the opportunity to assist in bottling their own sparkling wine using the Champenoise process. The students’ wine consists of a blanc noir base wine, which had already gone through the first fermentation, and a dosage of mourvédre. This blend creates Chemeketa Cellars’ sparkling Brut Rose.

In the upbeat and fast-paced warehouse, students observed and assisted in the final steps of creating their sparkling wine. First, the bottles of wine were placed in a saltwater brine to freeze the yeast sediment. Then, the high pressure that is created from the dissolved CO2 shoots the yeast plug out after the crown cap is removed. The wine is then supplemented with the final dosage of mourvédre. The mix of white and red wine produces a pink color to the sparkling wine - transforming the wine into a rosé. After the bottles are rinsed with water, a very thick cork is inserted into the bottles and wired down to preserve and maintain the bubbles. As Don Ho’s “Tiny Bubbles” played on the overhead speakers, the bottles were labeled with Chemeketa Cellar’s branded and colorful label and boxed in cases. 

Chemeketa Wine Studies students witnessed how much manual labor is involved in the Champenoise method - each bottle is typically handled about a dozen times. “Seeing the specialized equipment used to disgorge and finish the sparkling wine process was super beneficial for me,” says student Erica Snyder. “I was surprised that the bottling line was run by only four people! It's really neat that Radiant is working with Chemeketa, it puts sparkling wine production into perspective.” 

Chemeketa Community College is thankful to their partners at Radiant Sparkling Wine for donating their services and knowledge. Chemeketa’s sparkling Brut Rose can be purchased at the tasting room at Chemeketa’s Northwest Wine Studies Center. For more information on Chemeketa’s wines and Wine Studies program, please visit www.chemeketacellars.com.

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For more than 50 years, Chemeketa Community College has committed itself to transforming lives and our community through exceptional learning experiences in the Mid-Willamette Valley. As the second multi-campus district in Oregon, Chemeketa serves 30,000 students annually at its Salem and Yamhill Valley campuses, as well as Brooks, Eola, Winema, Dallas, Woodburn and Chemeketa Center for Business and Industry (CCBI).