How can you make Champagne that has lost its bubbles fizz again?
A technique to restore the bubbles to a flat bottle of Champagne. All you need is a single raisin!
Champagne is synonymous with celebration! The star of Christmas and New Year’s Eve drinks parties takes centre stage at our table. Whether as an aperitif or with dessert, champagne (and its sparkling charm) always makes an impression. Let’s first look at the origin of these bubbles, which are actually made up of CO₂ (carbon dioxide). They are the result of a reaction – the result of fermentation taking place inside the sealed bottle. Under the action of yeast, sugar is converted into alcohol. The gas accumulates both in the liquid and in the space beneath the cork. As the carbon dioxide cannot escape, the pressure inside the bottle builds up… and this is why the cork pops out when the bottle is opened. When the bottle is sealed, the air bubbles are almost invisible. It is only when the champagne is poured into a glass that the bubbles rise to the surface and release its aroma. Gérard Liger-Belair, a professor specialising in the physical chemistry of liquid effervescence, has made champagne the subject of his research. He has proven that the air bubbles are created by tiny defects, impurities and small particles of dust adhering to the surface of the glass.
Bubbles of Resurrection
Like any fizzy drink, champagne loses its bubbles once the bottle is opened. Tasting stale champagne is not the most pleasant experience. To solve this problem, Real Simple offers a simple tip. All you need to do is put some raisins into the bottle with the remaining champagne. After a few minutes, the carbon dioxide will gather around the dried fruit and you should see bubbles rising to the surface. All that’s left to do is serve this remaining champagne, now adorned with fresh bubbles. This tip works if the champagne has only been open for a few hours. Just the thing to freshen up our holiday aperitifs.
As for the old wives’ tale about hanging a teaspoon around the neck of the bottle to trap air bubbles… unfortunately, it’s not true – scientific reports and so on. In 1995, a group of scientists from the Centre Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne carried out a study. They partially emptied twelve bottles. Three were left open. A small silver teaspoon was placed around the neck of the next three. The remaining three were sealed with airtight stoppers. Finally, the last three were sealed with capsules. The result? “As the reduction ineffervescence was accompanied by a reduction in liquid volume [...] the researchers then assessed the weight loss of each bottle up to 72 hours after the start of the experiment. An unpleasant surprise: the loss was the same with or without the spoon.” They added: “The spoons brought no improvement in preserving the bubbles. By contrast, the wines in corked bottles showed excellent effervescence.”
