I presented some sparkling wines from the Limoux area of France at a recent tasting, a location that produced sparkling wines at least 100 years before the Champagne region became well known. Finally, if the bottle is not empty, I recommend sealing it with a sparkling wine cork and storing it in the refrigerator. “Why to bother sealing it?” was the remark. “All you have to do is stick a spoon in the neck.”
I had taken aback by this. Despite the fact that I had heard it recommended before, I did not believe anyone took it seriously. The idea that a spoon in an open bottle of sparkling wine keeps it fizz is untrue. It is best to invest in a quality stopper.
CONTACT BETWEEN WINE AND OXYGEN REDUCED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
I know that minimizing contact between wine and oxygen is critical for preventing oxidative spoiling based on my years of study into wine chemistry and oxidation. It is critical to close the bottle. Because carbon dioxide is more soluble in wine at a lower temperature, keeping sparkling wine in the refrigerator is also advantageous. In other words, putting it in the fridge will help it retain more bubbles. Some even say that the teaspoon is made of silver rather than stainless steel, despite the fact that the evidence for this is largely hypothetical.
BEHAVIOR OF THE BUBBLE
It is crucial to pay attention to a few key characteristics of sparkling wine bubbles. Champagne researcher Gérard Liger-Belair established in his book Uncorked: The Science of Champagne that the amount of carbon dioxide lost is dependent on how the wine is poured into the glass. When poured into a tilted glass, more carbon dioxide retained than when poured into a vertical glass. Liger-Belair was able to trace the passage of bubbles in a glass using bubble-imaging techniques.
He demonstrated that the bubbles are really aerosols (a dispersion of small solid particles or liquid droplets in the air) containing scent components that influence the taster’s perception. Even the interior surface of the glass influences the discharge of bubbles. As a result, bubble behavior is complicated. Any study on them should duplicate to confirm that it is assessing a true effect rather than a one-time occurrence.
A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF ‘THE MYTH OF THE TEASPOON’
Michel Valade and colleagues published one on champagne in the monthly Le Vigneron Champenois in 1994. The piece, named Le mythe de la petite cuillère – the myth of the teaspoon –created in response to the belief that a teaspoon, especially one made of silver, might (in my translation): To safeguard the bubbles escaping from an open bottle, you must defy all physical rules and have legendary efficiency. The decrease in pressure, the loss of weight, and sensory analysis all employed these researchers to determine the influence of bubble conservation on the wine.
The wine decanted after opening, leaving 500 millilitres in 1 set and 250 millilitres in the other. The wines were then kept at 12°C with four different techniques for preserving the bubbles: open bottle, silver teaspoon, stainless steel teaspoon, cork stopper (with hermetic seal), and crown seal (a metal lid with crimped edges, as if you often see on a beer bottle). Each method was tested in three different ways.
After then, the researchers looked at how the pressure within the container changed (measured in a unit called atmospheres; 1 atmosphere is about 101 kilopascals). The starting bottle pressure was 6 atmospheres, which dropped to 4 atmospheres after decanting when there were just 500 millilitres left. The pressure was just two atmospheres when only 250 millilitres remained.
The pressure in open bottles and those with a teaspoon put in the neck had decreased further 50% after 48 hours of storage, indicating a considerable loss of bubbles. Obviously, the teaspoon effect did not exist. A pressure reduction of just 10% was seen in those sealed with a cork stopper or crown seal, highlighting the importance of having a suitable closure.
The weight of bottles was kept in three distinct ways: fully open, tightly sealed, and with a teaspoon inserted also assessed by these researchers. The weight of the firmly sealed bottles did not decrease. However, the weight loss was considerable for the fully open bottles and those with a teaspoon in the neck.
Qualified champagne tasters to round out the data and eliminate the teaspoon myth submitted the wines to sensory analysis. Because air got in during the opening, all of the wines showed signs of oxidation. Those sealed with a hermetic seal, on the other hand, were noticeably more effervescent and lively than those not sealed or with a teaspoon inserted.
The teaspoon effect is clearly a hoax. So, if you need to preserve a partially used bottle of sparkling wine, go out and get a suitable bottle stopper. The Discussion, Charles Sturt University Adjunct Professor Geoff Scollary. The Conversation has given permission to reprint this article under a Creative Commons license. Read the full story here.
