Vineyard can't keep its green Eagles-themed sparkling wine in stock ahead of Super Bowl LVII: 'A record in our books'
The Pennsylvania winery will release approximately 500 more bottles before the big game and expects another complete sell-out.
When the winemakers at Buckingham Valley Vineyards created a green sparkling wine in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles in advance of Super Bowl LVII, they never could have predicted the level of interest the beverage would instantly attract.
It all started with a Facebook post announcing a limited release of green "Eagles Champ-aign" for the big game. The result was an instant sell-out for the Buckingham, Pa. vineyard.
"We sold out in record time — about 1 and a half hours," Chris Forest of Buckingham Valley Vineyards tells Yahoo Life. "We are planning on disgorging (a process in Champagne-making where dead yeast cells are removed from a bottle before a new cork is added) another cage on Friday that should be available at 10 a.m. when we open. We are not taking any pre-orders because quite simply, the product does not exist in its entirety yet."
"We made a few cases at first as sort of a novelty and the Facebook post started gaining traction so we made more, then more, then even more," adds Forest. "We've sold over 100 cases in less than a week. For Champagne sales that's a record in our books."
But all hope is not lost for fans who were not able to grab a few bottles in time: While there's more to come, Forest predicts that's going to go quickly as well. "We will make one more cage, roughly 500 bottles, on Friday morning assuming all goes well," he says. "Best bet to get some is to either be at the winery at 10 a.m. Friday, or try to give us a call, but our phones have been blowing up non-stop so it may be hard to get through."
The method for making the sparkling wine green is similar to those green bagels we see on St. Patrick's Day. "During the disgorging and corking process, we add a small amount of sweetener to each bottle to achieve the levels we want," Forest explains. "The dosage for the green sparkling is our normal brut dosage, but with green organic coloring added."
According to Forest, the dosage is a sugar mixture. "You inject different doses to get the desired sweetness," he says. "The brut is our most popular sparkling. It is almost dry with just a touch of sweetness."
Forest says the idea was born when his dad, Jerry Forest, the founder and winemaker at the vineyard, dyed a bottle green as sort of a novelty. "We ended up making a few cases just to try it out," says Forest. "Then the orders came flying in so we had to make more."
According to Forest, Buckingham Valley is one of the only wineries in Pennsylvania to make their own sparkling wine in the traditional French style. "It is fermented in the bottle for about five years before being riddled to get the sediment out," he shares. "Then it is disgorged and corked."
The result is a rather delicious and festive pre-game addition that would make any tailgater proud.
If your pre-Super Bowl plans won't give you enough time to stake out the vineyard in hopes of grabbing one of these coveted bottles, there is a way to conjure up some green sparkling wine right at home in time for the big game. "To add a green hue to your bubbles, add a drop or two of green food coloring to the glass and blue Cura?ao, then fill the glass with the sparkling wine or Champagne," says Lucas Scudeler, director of restaurants and bars at Florida's Loews Miami Beach Hotel. "Incorporating a splash of orange juice will make it extra green. For a more festive version, use green food coloring glitter."
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