MadSci Network: Physics
Query:

Re: How does a spoon help keep sparkling wine fresh after being opened ?

Date: Wed Aug 23 12:58:22 2000
Posted By: Michael Costello, , Chemistry, Physics, and Statistics, 3D Systems
Area of science: Physics
ID: 965134230.Ph
Message:

Steve,

Before answering the question, “How does a spoon help keep sparkling wine 
fresh after being opened?”, we need to address the question, “Does a spoon 
help keep sparkling wine fresh?”  Like much of the lore surrounding 
alcoholic beverages, this claim is founded in gut feel rather than hard 
fact.

Once a bottle of sparkling wine is opened, it will begin to lose the 
carbon dioxide dissolved in it, and even the best stoppers cannot prevent 
it from losing freshness after the initial unstoppering.  The different 
references I’ve found on the topic indicate that the “spoon technique” is 
unproven (ref 1), or that it will cause the sparkling wine to keep it’s 
fizz for a few hours (ref 2).  Of course, uncorked and spoonless bubbly 
will also keep its fizz for a few hours.  The only “research” I found on 
the topic was a joke paper concluding that a spoon makes no difference in 
either fizz or flavor (ref 3).

Your hypothesis seems sound—-the edge-wise surface area of a spoon is 
insufficient for making it an efficacious stopper.  It is also likely that 
Wine Waiters touting silver spoons are just being superior.

Bottoms up,
Michael

Ref.1 h ttp://www.epicurious.com/d_drinking/d04_champagne/bottlecare.html
Ref.2 http://www.intowine.com/cham
pagne2.html
Ref.3 Does a Metal Spoon Improve the Quality of Left-over Sparkling Wine?  
Van Oldenborgh, Geert Jan, and Vos, Fernando L.J.    http://www.ph.tum.de/~tvo
igtm/rec/sci.html



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