Keep Champagne Fizzy For Up To 2 Weeks With A Special Stopper
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Whether it was to commemorate a special occasion or just because it's your favorite drink, popping the cork on some bubbly is always exciting. If you weren't able to finish the bottle, you probably also noticed that it doesn't take long for an open container to go flat. By the time the next morning rolls around, your champagne won't even be fit for a small round of mimosas. If you want to preserve your champagne and keep it fresh and bubbly for two weeks or more, try a sparkling wine preservation kit.
Sure, covering the top of the bottle with foil or a stopper might extend the life a day or two, but that doesn't hold a candle to what a sparkling wine preservation kit can do. Traditional stoppers put a seal over your bottle and work to keep the bubbly inside. This typically only keeps your bottle tasting fresh for up to five days, though. If your bottle does go flat, there are plenty of ways to use leftover champagne. However, a sparkling wine preservation kit can solve all of your flat champagne woes.
How sparkling wine preservation kits work
Such kits, like those from Coravin or Perlage, are an admittedly expensive purchase, but if you regularly splurge on bottles that don't get finished in one night, it will probably save you money in the long run. They work differently than traditional wine or champagne bottle stoppers. Those inexpensive options can help keep the bubbles from escaping your bottle, but their usefulness stops there. Preservation kits differ in that they reintroduce carbon dioxide into the bottle, and return the headspace of the bottle to the same composition and pressure it was before it was opened.
Often used in restaurants and by sommeliers, these kits can extend the life of your bottle, making it last up to a full month. It's nice to have one on hand if you like to enjoy a glass of champagne here and there and don't often finish the bottle before it goes flat. Each kit comes with capsules that add carbon dioxide to keep the gas and pressure at the correct level, so you don't always feel obligated to polish off open bottles.
How to use a sparkling wine preservation kit
You'll need to do a bit more work to preserve your bottle than simply placing a regular stopper on top. Depending on the brand of preservation kit you use, the instructions may vary a bit. However, here is the basic process you'll follow to preserve your champagne.
First, you need to load a CO2 capsule into your stopper. Then, you put a stopper on the bottle and lock it into place. Once your stopper is on, you can put the charger on top of the stopper (you'll probably hear the CO2 release into the bottle). Keep the charger on the stopper until it indicates that the bottle is fully charged. This means that it has been restored to its original pressure and CO2 content. Then, re-store your bottle, aiming to finish the remaining amount in the following days or weeks.
It's important to note that you should not use a sparkling wine preservation kit for a regular bottle of wine. Not only do you not need to introduce CO2 into a bottle of wine, but doing so could actually be dangerous. Regular wine bottles are not designed to withstand the pressure of a champagne bottle or sparkling drink, and this could cause them to break.