AbstractBACKGROUNDThe differential characteristic of sparkling wine is the formation of foam, which is dependent, among other factors, on yeast autolysis, aging and oenological practices. In this study, we analyzed the effects of yeast strain, nutrient supplementation to the base wine and aging process on the sparkling wine composition and its foamability.RESULTSWe determined that the addition of inorganic nitrogen promoted nitrogen liberation to the extracellular medium, while the addition of inactive dry yeast to the base wine caused an increase in the polysaccharide concentration and foaming properties of the sparkling wine. The use of synthetic and natural base wines allowed us to discriminate that the differences in high‐molecular‐weight polysaccharides and oligosaccharides could be attributed to the yeast cells and that the higher nitrogen content in the natural wine could be due to external proteolysis.CONCLUSIONThe practices of nitrogen addition and supplementation of inactive dry yeast could modulate the main characteristics of the sparkling wine and be a critical element for the design of this kind of wine. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry