With the holiday season among us, you might be opening a bottle of champagne or two. Champagne is a fun and festive wine with delicate flavors; however, the bubbliness of the wine can easily dissipate if stored incorrectly after opening.
Here are three tips for storing leftover champagne this holiday season.
Use a Champagne Stopper or Hermetic Cork
If you’ve ever tried to use a regular wine stopper on a champagne bottle, you’ll know that the champagne’s carbonation will simply push the wine stopper right out of the bottle. At Wine Tours by Design, we recommend buying a champagne-specific reusable cork, such as a champagne stopper, also known as a hermetic cork.
These corks create an effective seal on the champagne bottle, locking in all the bubbly goodness. You can purchase one of these reusable corks at your local wine store, Amazon, or even Walmart. They usually cost less than $15 and are very effective for preserving champagne.
If you can’t get your hands on a champagne stopper, you can also use plastic wrap as an alternative. Simply place some plastic wrap over the bottle opening, and secure the plastic in place, around the bottle neck, with a rubber band.
Store Leftover Champagne Upright and In the Fridge
Unlike other bottles of wine, champagne is best stored upright. To preserve your leftover holiday champagne, we recommend sealing your champagne bottle and storing it upright in the refrigerator.
Champagne is best kept at a cold temperature, and placing an opened bottle of champagne in the fridge can help slow down the release of bubbles. This way, you prevent your bottle from going flat and can enjoy those bubbles even longer.
Try Out the Spoon Trick
Our last tip for storing champagne is a bit controversial. At Wine Tours by Design, we recommend following the first two champagne storage tips. However, if you feel so inclined, give this method a try, and let us know how it turns out for you.
This is kind of a funny way to store opened champagne—it’s called the “spoon trick.” Some people claim that if you insert a spoon (stem-side down) into the neck of a champagne bottle, then place the bottle in the fridge, it will preserve the sparkling wine. Though this method seems like a hit or miss, it could still be worth a shot. If anything, it may be a good laugh!
Cheers to the Holidays
The Wine Tours by Design team wishes you the happiest of holidays! We can already hear the champagne glasses clinking!
If you’re interested in advancing your wine knowledge, let’s chat! We offer private, basic wine classes, and we also offer destination wine tours that give you the opportunity to taste wines from different regions and expand your wine education. Contact us!
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