Drink it now
There may be no better time to drink that bottle of vintage champagne than right now. That is because research has shown that the carbon dioxide dissolved in drink can leak out through tiny pores in the cork stoppers used to seal the bottles.
Fortunately this “flattening” appears to occur slowly. Vintage champagne stored for 35 years loses more than half of its carbon dioxide and by 76 years they are likely to be almost completely flat, according to research by Liger-Belair. Standard bottles of champagne left to age for more than 30 years suffer a similar fate.
So for the average consumer who will probably drink their champagne soon after buying it, this may not be of much concern. Collectors with older bottles in their cellars might want to take a look at their age.
Bubbles at altitude
You should also consider whether you are popping a cork at ground level or drinking at 30,000ft (9,100m). The low pressure and humidity on planes affects our palates, altering how we perceive what we eat and drink. Wines typically taste more tannic and acidic at altitude. Champagne is already an acidic wine so if drinking it on board a flight, Liam Steevenson, the head of UK wine distributor Red & White, told BBC writer Katia Moskvitch that it’s best to have it early on – before the low humidity has too much of an effect.
More like this:
• Spaghetti science: What pasta reveals about the Universe
• The perfect, but slow, way to boil an egg
• Why expectation is alcohol’s most potent mixer
And if you were to find yourself even further from the surface of the Earth – on the International Space Station, for instance – it would be even more unwise to crack open a bottle. Fizzy drinks become “a foamy mess” in a zero-gravity environment, and there are worse consequences too, as Harriet Constable explores in this story.
So, when you next pop a cork, raise a toast to the extraordinary art and science that’s gone into your glass. As one group of scientists wrote in a 2024 review, “Sure, sparkling wine tasting is often seen as the pinnacle of glamour and frivolity, but it should also be considered as a fantastic playground for chemists and physicists to explore the subtle science behind this centuries-old drink”.
—
If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of features, videos and can’t-miss news, delivered to your inbox twice a week.
For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
