In time for New Years!

The science of drinking bubbly

A new study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry confirms what a lot of us already knew - the glass, the way you pour and the temperature is all important to the taste of Champagne:

J Agri Food Chem 2010, 58, 8768-8775

The analysis in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry uses fast photography, infrared light, diffusion coefficients and a lot of equations with Greek letters to measure what happens to bubbles with different pouring methods.

Skipping the equations, it turns out that pouring gently down the side of a glass preserves about twice as much carbon dioxide (bubbles) as pouring straight down to the bottom of the glass.

But that wasn't all: The shape of the glass also matters. Tall "flutes" preserve bubbles far better than the wide, shallow glasses sometimes used in North America.

And bubbles stay longer if the champagne is really cold — which affects both the density of the wine (cold is more dense) and its surface tension.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/science+drinking+bubbly/4030856/story.html#ixzz19VnPmvFC


Citation:

On the Losses of Dissolved CO2 during Champagne Serving

Grard Liger-Belair, Marielle Bourget, Sandra Villaume, Philippe Jeandet, Herv Pron, Guillaume Polidori

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2010 58 (15), 8768-8775