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Serving Champagne and Other Carbonated Wines

JoNorvelleWalker

By JoNorvelleWalker
in Wine

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

The NY Times has a current article in the science section "A Universe of Bubbles in Every Champagne Bottle".

 

The article asserts that it is better to serve Champagne at warmer than refrigerator temperatures so that the bubbles are larger and convey more flavor.  Also to serve in a narrow glass.

 

However Gerard Liger-Belair (who is referenced as an authority in the Times article) points out in his book Uncorked (forward by Herve This) that the colder the wine the more viscous and the more dissolved CO2.  Liger-Belair also prefers a goblet to a flute.  I bought Uncorked after reading about it in Liquid Intelligence from Dave Arnold.

 

Discuss.

 

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

I prefer champagne cold. Mostly because the CO2 isn't so bubbly. PV=nRT and all that.

  • Like 1
Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted

I like it at room temperature straight out of the bottle, after snatching it up at the gasoline station store ...

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The article asserts that it is better to serve Champagne at warmer than refrigerator temperatures so that the bubbles are larger and convey more flavor.  Also to serve in a narrow glass.

 

I assert that it is better to serve Champagne exactly as you like it.

 

I prefer it chilled but not over so. I have had it ice cold and it isn't pleasant.

 

I do agree with the narrow glass. Anything other than a champagne flute is crass beyond redemption ;).

 

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, gfweb said:

PV=nRT and all that.

 

:D  Haven't seen that formula since 11th grade, over half a century ago. :S  I remember we used to make these ostensibly clever fart jokes related to it. (It's the "Ideal Gas Law.")

 

(Yes, stuff like that is still stuck in my head.)

Edited by Alex (log)
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Paul Fink

Paul Fink

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The article asserts that it is better to serve Champagne at warmer than refrigerator temperatures so that the bubbles are larger and convey more flavor.

 Most wines, including champagne are better severed  at warmer than refrigerator temperatures which is colder than 40°

Recommendations for Champagne are 45° to 50° Most other white wines are good at 50°

 

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Paul Fink said:

 Most wines, including champagne are better severed  at warmer than refrigerator temperatures which is colder than 40°

Recommendations for Champagne are 45° to 50° Most other white wines are good at 50°

 

I try never to sever my wine. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted

Remember Cold Duck?  That's what I ended up having on New Year's Eve.

I remembered it fondly from the 70's (I think) and enjoyed it very much.

Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, lindag said:

Remember Cold Duck?  That's what I ended up having on New Year's Eve.

I remembered it fondly from the 70's (I think) and enjoyed it very much.

 

Cold Duck! Invented in Detroit (really)!

 

Quote

The wine was invented by Harold Borgman, the owner of Pontchartrain Wine Cellars in Detroit, in 1937. The recipe was based on a German legend involving Prince Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony ordering the mixing of all the dregs of unfinished wine bottles with Champagne. The wine produced was given the name Kaltes Ende ("cold end" in German), until it was altered to the similar-sounding term Kalte Ente meaning "cold duck." The exact recipe now varies, but the original combined one part of Mosel wine, one part Rhine wine with one part of Champagne, seasoned with lemons and balm mint.

 

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

It wasn't until I read @Alex' link that I realized why "Cold Duck" sounded, how shall I say, off?  But it was because Baby Duck was the vintage of choice among my crowd back then. Don't think I could stomach it now. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted

Called "Trollschoppen" in the Rhineland Palatinate: half white wine, half sparkling wine. Drunk from a "Schoppen" glass, thus half a liter. Considered the last drink at the wine fest before heading home (or at least trying to) ...

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Anna N said:

It wasn't until I read @Alex' link that I realized why "Cold Duck" sounded, how shall I say, off?  But it was because Baby Duck was the vintage of choice among my crowd back then. Don't think I could stomach it now. 

Cold duck was the still version of Baby Duck wasn't it?

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Cold duck was the still version of Baby Duck wasn't it?

 

Well, sort of, except that Baby Duck was the still wine. According to the article I linked to:

 

Quote

André introduced their version of Cold Duck in Canada in the mid-1960s. They followed that with similar sweet red and white wines called Chanté. In 1971 they created Baby Duck – a soft-drink-sweet blend of red and white Chanté wines.

Hugely successful, Baby Duck was the best-selling domestic wine during the 1970s

 

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

nickrey

nickrey

Posted
Posted
On 02/01/2017 at 3:15 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The NY Times has a current article in the science section "A Universe of Bubbles in Every Champagne Bottle".

 

The article asserts that it is better to serve Champagne at warmer than refrigerator temperatures so that the bubbles are larger and convey more flavor.  Also to serve in a narrow glass.

 

However Gerard Liger-Belair (who is referenced as an authority in the Times article) points out in his book Uncorked (forward by Herve This) that the colder the wine the more viscous and the more dissolved CO2.  Liger-Belair also prefers a goblet to a flute.  I bought Uncorked after reading about it in Liquid Intelligence from Dave Arnold.

 

Discuss.

 

Who wrote the NY Times article? They seem to think that bubbles are the only thing that matters in Champagne.

 

Although bubbles last longer in narrow glasses such as flutes, the narrow opening restricts your ability to experience the aromas of the wine. In the Sydney wine show, they have moved across to white wine glasses for tasting sparkling wine to ensure that they are tasting the wine, not simply revelling in the bubbles.

 

Moreover, while making the champagne very cold may make the bubbles last longer, it also suppresses the aromas. Again this will limit your ability to taste and appreciate the wine.

 

On the other hand if the base wine is not good (I'm looking at you Cold Duck), the more chill the better as the fizz is likely to be the only decent thing in there.

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Nick Reynolds, aka "nickrey"

"The Internet is full of false information." Plato
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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, nickrey said:

Who wrote the NY Times article? They seem to think that bubbles are the only thing that matters in Champagne.

 

Although bubbles last longer in narrow glasses such as flutes, the narrow opening restricts your ability to experience the aromas of the wine. In the Sydney wine show, they have moved across to white wine glasses for tasting sparkling wine to ensure that they are tasting the wine, not simply revelling in the bubbles.

 

Moreover, while making the champagne very cold may make the bubbles last longer, it also suppresses the aromas. Again this will limit your ability to taste and appreciate the wine.

 

On the other hand if the base wine is not good (I'm looking at you Cold Duck), the more chill the better as the fizz is likely to be the only decent thing in there.

 What can I say? We were young and foolish. Cold and bubbly was a good thing.  

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Anna N said:

 What can I say? We were young and foolish. Cold and bubbly was a good thing.  

It still is in my books ...

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Kerry Beal

Kerry Beal

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, Alex said:

 

Well, sort of, except that Baby Duck was the still wine. According to the article I linked to:

 

 

Nope - Baby Duck was definitely fizzy - many bottles sparkled past my tongue in my teen years. Revolting stuff actually.

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  • 2 months later...
suzilightning

suzilightning

Posted
Posted
On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 9:36 AM, lindag said:

Remember Cold Duck?  That's what I ended up having on New Year's Eve.

I remembered it fondly from the 70's (I think) and enjoyed it very much.

My great aunt got looped on Cold Duck(we bought it specifically for her) at my wedding reception.  She got so happy that she sat on the lap of the Justice of the Peace who performed out ceremony....funny since at the time she was the Town Clerk who basically worked for him.  We lost her not long afterward and the picture of her sitting on his lap laughing is one of my best memories ........which .including the picture of my grandfathers girlfriend talking with my mom who was holding the youngest guest - a 3 week old Clark.

 

OK ...gottta get out of this forum.

 

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