How to Store Champagne?

When storing champagne, keeping a few basic things in mind is essential. First, it is important to keep it at the right temperature. Avoid placing it in the freezer or refrigerator, and try to avoid storing it in the basement. Likewise, it should never be stored near pungent foods or chemicals.

Champagne

Champagne, What is It?

Champagne originates from a small region in northeastern France. While not all sparkling wines are Champagne, all sparkling wines are Champagne. Consider it to be similar to bourbon. While not all bourbon is whiskey, not all bourbon is whiskey. If a wine doesn’t originate from France’s Champagne region or doesn’t adhere to a specific set of guidelines, it is illegal to call it Champagne.

Champagne is a controlled Méthode Traditionelle sparkling wine that can only be used for wines produced in this manner and from this region.

The greatest beverage for a party is champagne, consumed to mark significant events and celebrate milestones such as birthdays and weddings. However, it can also help you feel better after a less thrilling event like divorce.

How to Store Champagne?

Champagne tends to go flat quite fast after opening, so only open a bottle if you intend to drink it immediately. If this isn’t possible, adhere to this straightforward advice to extend its life:

Remain calm. The bubbles will remain intact due to the chilly temperature. Although an ice bucket is advised, using the refrigerator will suffice.

Put an airtight cork in it. Don’t just put the cork it came with back in the bottle and call it a day, in other words. The leftover champagne cannot be ruined by troublesome oxygen because reusable hermetic corks are sealed. This one costs less than $10 and is available on Amazon ($7.99, amazon.com).

Not an airtight cork? No issue. Simply put, you must make do with what you have. Use plastic wrap and a tightly wound rubber band as a workaround.

Does Champagne Require a Wine Fridge for Storage?

Depending on how committed you are to building your collection. A wine fridge is generally a waste of money if you’re the type of person who only keeps a few bottles around the house at a time for casual drinking.

It might be a required buy, though, if you’re a serious collector or like always to have a large assortment on hand. This is especially true if you reside in a hot or humid area.

Are you looking for a wine refrigerator? On Amazon, this top-rated model is currently $100 off! Your pricey bottles are shielded from the unfriendly environment by a wine cooler.

Get Clear of the Freezer!

Champagne should never, ever be kept in the freezer. Regarding champagne, freezing and thawing are not advised because they fundamentally alter some meals and beverages. In addition to destroying the bubbles—which are important for, well, bubbly—freezing also tames the complex smells and scents.

What are the Factors that Must be Considered for Storing Champagne?

Horizontal or vertical?

The majority of wines should be kept vertically. This maintains the liquid in contact with the cork, preventing drying and air infiltration. Champagne, however, differs from most wines in that the bubbles keep the bottle nicely damp, minimizing the chance of the cork drying out. Some experts even advise storing your champagne bottles upright to avoid cork taint, which can occur when the bottle’s tight seal is weakened, resulting in a musty odor and flavor.

However, it doesn’t matter what angle the champagne is stored in if you only keep it for a brief period.

Temperature

When it comes to storing wine, the temperature is important, and champagne is no exception.

The refrigerator is probably not the greatest option for long-term wine preservation because kitchen refrigerators should be kept at 40° or below to ensure food safety. Between 45 and 65 degrees is good (many purists keep their collection at exactly 55 degrees). Any temperature over 70 degrees can cause the wine to lose its quality, while low temps can dry up the cork and let oxygen into the bottle.

However, maintaining a constant temperature is more crucial. The liquid will expand and contract due to extreme temperature variations, which may result in seepage.

What is the Difference Between Sparkling Wine and Champagne?

Most nations forbid calling sparkling wine “champagne” unless it originates from the French Champagne area. Champagne is produced by rules that vary depending on where it is produced. The European Union ensures this is the case in Europe under the Protected Designation of Origin designation. As a result, sparkling wines from other nations are marketed under various names, such as prosecco or spumante in Italy, cava in Spain, and set in Germany (Germany and Austria).

Champagnes are renowned for having complementary flavors and textures. Champagne guarantees excellence from a renowned champagne house, even when sparkling wines with comparable qualities can be purchased for less money.

In the realm of winemaking, sparkling wine is produced practically everywhere. While many sparkling wines are produced like Champagne, others are made using less time- and money-consuming methods. Consider the drink Prosecco. This Italian sparkling wine is made using the Charmat method, and secondary fermentation occurs in large, pressurized tanks rather than in bottles. The sparkling wines are consequently a little less bubbly than those produced using the conventional technique.

Why Does Champagne Cost So Much?

The production process determines the cost of your bottle of Champagne. Champagne occasionally experiences a hard climate. During the growing season, hail, rain, and frost threaten vine growth. Bad weather can potentially destroy grape clusters, resulting in lower harvest yields. When harvest time comes, the grapes must be plucked by hand rather than by machine. As you might anticipate, plucking grapes by hand is far more expensive.

The real costs associated with producing Champagne begin to mount. The “traditional method” is a process used to make champagne. The grape juice is fermented and bottled as a base wine.

The winemaker then adds a blend of sugar and yeast to the bottle to initiate secondary fermentation. This is what makes bubbly appear to be shimmering. The wine must next be matured for at least three years for vintage Champagne and at least 15 months for non-vintage Champagne. Some Champagne-aging houses, however, use a far longer approach.

How does Champagne Taste?

Champagne frequently smells of lemon peel, toast, and raw almonds. A pleasant sensation is created by the fusion of tart citrus and apple aromas with toasted and nutty flavors. Sometimes a trace of cream can be tasted and felt on the palate. Champagne has high acidity, compensated for by its light body and tiny bubbles. Most wines are white. Thus, there aren’t many tannins in them.

Champagne will have varying degrees of sweetness depending on how much sugar (dosage) is added for the second fermentation. The wording indicates the food’s sweetness and amount of sugar on the label:

Brut Nature: Little to no sugar is added, making it nearly bone-dry. According to this label, the wine may have received up to three grams of sugar per liter.

Extra Brut: Up to six grams of sugar per liter may have been added to this wine, making it sweeter. Still, the flavor is rather dry.

Brut: Although champagne is often rather dry, but can include 12 grams of sugar per liter. Most people consume Brut, a variety of Champagne.

Wines with these labels are sweeter than brut and include 12–17 grams of sugar per liter. Extra Dry, Extra Sec, Extra Seco

Dry, Sec, Seco: Seco is substantially sweeter than brut and can have anywhere between 17 and 32 grams of sugar per liter, despite the word “dry” being on the bottle.

Demi-sec is one of the sweeter varieties of Champagne. Per liter, it contains 32 to 50 grams of sugar.

Any bottle bearing one of the designations Doux, Sweet, or Dulce has at least 50 grams of sugar per liter, making it the sweetest Champagne.

The grapes used to make champagne can also be used to categorize it:

Chardonnay grapes are used only to manufacture Blanc de Blanc Champagne.

Blanc de Noirs: Meunier and pinot noir are the only “black” wine grapes used to make this Champagne.

Rosé: To make rosé champagne, a tiny amount of red wine is typically mixed with a bottle of white wine.

Can Children Consume Champagne?

There is no such thing as a safe level of alcohol consumption for kids. Children metabolize alcohol more quickly than adults do. Consequently, even a small amount of alcohol may cause blood alcohol levels to rise. Possible effects include low blood sugar, unconsciousness, and body temperature problems.

The more complicated response is that, although I’ve tried some vintage sparkling wines that were quite good, they might not taste all that great. It will taste just like the cheap old wine you described, so just because it has lost its carbonation does not necessarily imply it is awful.

Who Made Champagne?

Most likely, you’ve heard of Dom Pérignon, credited with creating Champagne. Even a unique cuvée bearing his name was created by Mot & Chandon in his honor. However, his significant contribution to Champagne’s past didn’t occur until many years after his passing.

The oldest sparkling wine we know of is from France’s different regions. During the Middle Ages, the French and Italians noted that some wines suddenly became fizzy.

This significant find was made in 1531 by Benedictine monks at the Saint-Hilaire monastery in the Aude region, close to Carcassonne. Therefore, rather than Champagne, “blanquette de Limoux,” produced in Aude, is the oldest sparkling wine in the world.

Early Champagne History

Wine has been produced in Champagne since the Roman era. The Romans gave the region the name “Campania,” which is also the name of an Italian region that closely resembles this region. The first known vineyard dates back to the fifth century. However, this wine was still referred known as “Reim’s wine,” after a neighboring trading port.

Reims gained popularity due to its development as a significant trading hub connecting Paris, Flanders, Switzerland, and Germany. King coronations have occurred in Reims’ cathedral since the late 1100s when the city was an important spiritual center. Nevertheless, champagne was provided at these gatherings and quickly gained popularity.

But the surrounding Burgundy region offered stiff competition. People in Reims sought in vain to sell passing merchants their less expensive red wines. However, they frequently preferred the dark reds of their southern rivals. So, Champagne winemakers started producing white wine to stand out.

Reference: When champagne became French: Wine and the making of a national identity

Conclusion

There are several factors to consider when storing champagne. First, the ideal temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the relative humidity should be between 50 and 85 percent. This humidity range is good for champagne as it prevents corks from drying. Another factor to consider is vibration. This can cause flattening of the champagne, so keeping it away from appliances and windows is recommended.

Another important factor to consider when storing champagne is the storage method. For long-term storage, champagne bottles should be stored upright. However, when storing a bottle that’s under a year old, it should be stored horizontally.