Do we need expensive gadgets to preserve fizz in wine?

I put a silver teaspoon in the neck of a bottle of bubbly, and it was fine the next day. Why do people bother with expensive, fizz-preserving gadgets?

―A.E., ROSE BAY

I’m unsure if this question is a joke, but I’ll treat it with respect and seriousness. Some people swear that placing a dead match across the mouth of an open bottle of champagne keeps it fresh, too. But, like the aforesaid teaspoon, there’s no basis in fact.

Photo: Simon Letch

The truth is, if you put an open, partly drunk bottle of sparkling wine in the fridge before it loses its sparkle, it will nearly always be fine to enjoy the next day. The reason it doesn’t lose its fizz is most likely because the lower the temperature, the more soluble carbon dioxide becomes.

The reason sparkling wine fizzes when the cork is removed is because the release of dissolved CO₂ in the wine, which happens when the cork is popped, causes bubbles to form. Pressure maintains its soluble state – as does refrigeration.

To demonstrate the solubility of CO₂, compare the liveliness of an unrefrigerated bottle with a refrigerated bottle. The warm bottle fizzes violently, then goes flat relatively quickly. The cold bottle froths gently, retaining its gas for much longer.

There are many clamps, plugs, pumps and other gadgets that promise to preserve the fizz in your partly consumed bottle of bubbly, but not all of them work in the long term.

In the short term, placing the bottle in the fridge door without sealing it is likely to do as good a job as a special stopper. There’s little doubt this is where the myths about matches and spoons arose: people mistakenly assumed the match or spoon was producing the desired effect, when doing nothing would have worked just as well.

In conclusion, then, this misapprehension about silver spoons and burnt matches is to be placed in the same mental compartment as “Shaving makes your hair grow back thicker”, “Wearing spectacles weakens your eyesight”, and “Microwave ovens cause cancer”.

Got a drinks question for Huon Hooke? thefullbottle@goodweekend.com.au