The Biggest Myth About Keeping Champagne Bubbly
Part of the charm of a good bottle of sparkling wine like Champagne or prosecco — note that they aren't the same — is its fizziness. The gentle tingle on your tongue, coupled with the fruity flavors of white wine makes for a wonderful tasting experience. However, the fizziness of Champagne will lessen over time (the French call this loss "éventage"). Not unlike an opened soda bottle, eventually, Champagne's fizziness will fade and all you're left with is a sad white wine. People have come up with various tricks to keep the bubbliness around, but not all of them work — take the infamous spoon-in-the-bottle trick, for example.
This myth stems from the belief that placing a spoon's handle into the open bottle creates an "air plug" that helps it retain carbon dioxide bubbles. It's such a famous trick that it was once featured on the Discovery Channel TV show MythBusters. So, the million-dollar question is "Does it work?"
Disappointingly, no. Both MythBusters and researchers at Stanford University conducted tests, and neither group found any improvement in the Champagne's fizziness using this trick. In fact, it might even do more harm than good to your champagne. What makes the carbon dioxide bubbles in your Champagne dissipate faster is movement. The more you jostle the liquid around, the faster the gas inside will escape. When you insert a spoon's stem and let it stir the Champagne every time you pick up the bottle, that's exactly what happens!
The secret is to simply let it be
Now that we've established the best way to keep the bubbles inside from popping and dissolving is to keep it as still as possible, the true method to preserving your Champagne's fizziness is to simply ... let it be. Pop your Champagne in the fridge and keep it there until you're ready to use it again. This will keep the bubbles inside the bottle — each a pocket of carbon dioxide gas — safe.
But here's the surprising bit, not only you shouldn't put a spoon inside, but maybe it's best that you don't re-cork it, either. The Stanford University research also found that re-corking the bottle seems to flatten the Champagne even quicker than putting in a spoon. The best-tasting bottle in their experiment was one that hasn't been stopped at all!
Take this information with a grain of salt, however, since the study also pointed out that the data set is quite small. So, there's a slight chance the results may not be entirely accurate. Nevertheless, it's a much better bet for keeping your Champagne bubbly than relying on the spoon trick.
While you're at it, put it in the fridge, too
The key to preserving the fizziness in carbonated drinks like Champagne is to keep them at lower temperatures. When the drink is colder, the carbon dioxide gas responsible for the bubbles remains more soluble in the liquid, preventing it from escaping too quickly. In contrast, as the Champagne warms up, the solubility of carbon dioxide decreases, leading to the release of gas and the Champagne losing its bubbliness.
So, in addition to letting your Champagne rest undisturbed, the next best thing you can do is keep it chill. The cooler environment helps maintain its freshness and fizziness for far longer compared to storing it at room temperature.
For even better results, aim for a lower temperature. If you know you're going to be using the Champagne tomorrow and want to keep it in tip-top shape, consider placing your heavy Champagne bottle in an ice bucket. This will keep the wine a lot cooler than in the fridge (without freezing it solid in the freezer.) Once you're ready to drink it, just pull it out and take a well-deserved toast in a white wine glass (though you should never use a flute) for all the trouble you went through to keep it fresh and tasty!