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Christmas Cheer Entertainment

For Champagne Bubbles, Smaller Is Better 266

Posted by CowboyNeal from the mimosa-ingredients dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "During this holiday season you don't need a special occasion to drink champagne. You can do it everyday, providing you use moderation and common sense. But did you know that champagne taste better when it has tiny bubbles? This is the result of a very serious study published by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and more recently found by the Discovery Channel. And why do you think champagne taste better when carrying smaller bubbles? The answer is pretty obvious. More bubbles are releasing the champagne's flavor and aroma into your mouth. This summary gives you more details. In the mean time, let's all drink champagne!"
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For Champagne Bubbles, Smaller Is Better More

For Champagne Bubbles, Smaller Is Better

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  • huh (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tirel ( 692085 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:21PM (#7867263)
    And here I thought taste was subjective...

  • Let's all drink champagne ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by EpsCylonB ( 307640 ) <eps&epscylonb,com> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:21PM (#7867265) Homepage
    Ermm yeah... my champagne stock is running a little low, you wouldn't mind sending me a crate would you ?
    • Beer comes in crates. Wine comes in cases. I ordered a case of one of my favourite champagnes for my new year party, and it still hasn't got here. I'm beginning to think they thought I meant the Chinese new year...

      As an aside; why, exactly, is this news? It's been common (if specialist) knowledge for over a hundred years that small bubbles implies good champagne (although this is not universal, it's a fairly good indicator).

  • While you're enjoying the bubbles and the aroma, (Score:4, Funny)

    by Brahmastra ( 685988 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:21PM (#7867266)
    I'll take some everclear and get wasted long before you

  • Actually... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:22PM (#7867270)
    It's only Champagne if it's bottled in Champagne, France. Otherwise, it's sparkling wine.
    • did you watch wayne's world on usa yesterday too?
    • You know, the things you can learn from Rob Lowe in Wayne's World are truly astounding. Now I'm off to learn cantonese.

    • Re:Actually... (Score:4, Informative)

      by EpsCylonB ( 307640 ) <eps&epscylonb,com> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:27PM (#7867298) Homepage
      Which is why europeans love to laugh at stupid americans who refer to it as "French Champagne".
      • and americans love to laugh at europeans (EU) with their stupid and blatantly anticompetitive "named origin" rules that tolerate such bullshit.

        the "best brands" that fall under such protectionism tend to be french--dijon mustard, champagne, etc. but, there's no shortage of ways in which such legistlation is aimed at reducing europe back into a place of protected guilds - stilton cheese, port (oporto), etc.


        • and americans love to laugh at europeans (EU) with their stupid and blatantly anticompetitive "named origin" rules that tolerate such bullshit.

          That's not anti-competetive and stupid... the names have been built up through hard work during a long time. It's not a company, like Coca-Cola, but an area, and it should still apply.

          People elsewhere aren't forbidden to use those methods, but I'm perfectly fine with Kraft not being able to call its cheese with sawdust (cellulose) for Parmesan.

          • but you're wrong. you can't sell cheez wizz as parmesan any more than you can sell a horse as a type of cow. product labelling rules apply. now, in the case of parmesan cheese, maybe the specific labelling rules allow for a higher percentage of cellulose than you find to be reasonable, but in the general case most people agree that they're decent.

            the thing with these stupid and anticompetitive named origin rules is that in general they stifle competition by preventing the SAME products from different r

            • the thing with these stupid and anticompetitive named origin rules is that in general they stifle competition by preventing the SAME products from different regions from competing against each other. No, they don't. You'll just have to call your sparkling wine something else than champagne, and your processed milk w/cellulose something else than parmesan, and it's fine. The same way you can't call something 'Coca-Cola' on a whim either.

              if competitor from a different region's cannot be differentiate

        • Re:Actually... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by dipipanone ( 570849 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @04:43PM (#7868649)
          and americans love to laugh at europeans (EU) with their stupid and blatantly anticompetitive "named origin" rules that tolerate such bullshit.

          You mean as opposed to Americans who take out a patent a variety of rice and then register the trademark 'Basmati', even though this particular rice has been traditionally associated with a strain that grows in the Himalayas for the last few hundred years?

          The reality is that there's nothing protectionist about it. You're absolutely free to sell as much of your 'American Cheese' in Europe as you like (bwahahahahah.) You just can't call it Camenbert. This strategy has the advantage of providing consumers with an accurate description of the goods being sold. The alternative lays the way open to any attempt to rip off both producers and consumers by fraudulent and deceptive practices -- and still seeks protectionism for your inferior products -- as in the case of your BasNasty rice.

          However, I do understand that large numbers of Americans think that consumers shouldn't have any protection from rapacious and deceptive trade practices -- which is probably why so much spam originates from your shores.

          • Re:Actually... (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Valdrax ( 32670 )
            You're absolutely free to sell as much of your 'American Cheese' in Europe as you like (bwahahahahah.) You just can't call it Camenbert.

            It's utter nonsense. The terms for cheese and the like are descriptive of the kind of cheese and its flavor. Are all Parmesean, Muenster, Feta, etc. cheeses that come from Wisconsin to be labelled "American Cheese" or "Wisconsin Cheese?" How would you tell them apart? Better yet, under Europe's naming regime, should every single country that makes Parmesean cheese be
      • Which is why europeans love to laugh at stupid americans who refer to it as "French Champagne".

        Nor more stupid then americans saying *english muffins*.


      • "French Champagne"


        Don't you mean "Freedom Champagne"?

    • Re:Actually... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Jeff DeMaagd ( 2015 )
      Is balogna only balogna when it is packaged in Balogna, Germany, otherwise it is just ordinary meat?

    • Re:Actually... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by tuxette ( 731067 ) * <(tuxette) (at) (gmail.com)> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:32PM (#7867323) Homepage Journal
      On that note, don't go to Spain and call their wonderful cava champagne. Ever. When I was researching on a travel website for information on Barcelona last summer, I read a story about someone who did just that and wondered why the Spaniards were so upset and suddenly cold towards him. On a friendlier note, you can get some excellent cavas at a fraction of the price of champagne, though the top champagnes beat anything else out there.

      In Italy, sparkling wine is called asti spumanti. In Germany you can get a local Sekt. South Africa has cape classic. I'm not too crazy about any of these, but chacun a son gout.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by h00pla ( 532294 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:58PM (#7867454) Homepage
        I love these funny anecdotes about Spain. They are generally untrue, that's what makes them so funny. These travel guides have to sell an adventure and I suppose that insulting the local wine classifies as danger. Anyway...

        If you've lived in Spain, or travelled there extensively, you will find that the most Spaniards refer to cava as 'champn' and I have never seen anybody get 'cold and unfriendly'. In Catalua and parts of Valencia is where 'cava' is produced, by legal agreement and some of these are excellent and rival the best French champagnes. Two that stand out are 'Torre Oria' and 'Juve y Camps'. The popular Freixenet, which is sold in the States is quite good, but doesn't really match these that I mentioned.

        • I'll second that recommendation. I bought a bottle (one of many) on my last trip to Catalonia. Great stuff!

          I've travelled a bit in Spain, but I don't speak Spanish (I make do with French, more effective than English), so I'm not really sure what Spaniards really call their cava. I've ordered "cava sorbet" and bottles of cava from menus, but I've never seen or heard "champn" (or similar) as far as I can remember.

          • The slash code removed my accented 'a'. The people of Catalunya (Catalonia) and Valencia would probably not refer to cava as 'champan' (cham-PAN), being proud of what they produce, but in the interior Castellano speaking provinces they do.

            I had some Juve y Camps on Christmas eve and it was excellent. I also tried 'Dominio de la Vega' from Valencia, but this is probably not available outside Spain. If you take another trip, you could look for some. It's also excellent. It must have small bubbles :)

      • asti spumante is just one italian sparkling wine. moscato is another type of italian sparkling white -- lambrusco is a sparkling red. There are probably a number of other varieties of which I'm unaware.

        on that note there are other french sparkling wines, too, besides champagne. I don't claim to know much about wine, but it really is a shame that here in the US it's largely marketed as an "elite" drink rather than an everyday accompaniment to food. Being able to get a passable bottle for $3 in Italy i

    • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Informative)

      by davidc ( 91400 ) <cdpuff&gmail,com> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:36PM (#7867343)
      There's "sparkling wine" which may be white wine which has been carbonated, or fermented in a large vessel - large bubbles, generally is not very nice. Then there's "Methode Champenoise" where the wine gets a secondary fermentation in the bottle just like Champagne does. This stuff is much better, smaller bubbles and rivals the "Champagne" Champagne, at a lower price :-)

      A votre Sante!
      • Cheap Champagne. Check.
        Cheap diamonds [wired.com]. Check.
        Cheap wedding [vegas.com]. Check.
        Now all I need is a cheap bride.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Informative)

        by cmowire ( 254489 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @01:39PM (#7867630) Homepage
        The synonym for Methode Champenoise is "Naturally fermented in this bottle". Methode Champenoise is the only way you can make "Champagne" Champagne.

        The other sparkling wines are "Naturally fermented/carbonated in a bottle" or "Bottle fermented", which means that a large vessel and generally means large bubbles or suffer various other indignities to the way that God intended it to be made, as given to the good Dom. And then there's just plain old carbonated, like soda.

        The thing is, to do the Methode Champenoise takes extra time, care, and money, so only people who are serious about making good stuff bother to do it -- although if the Methode Champenoise becomes a snob point, I'm sure the cheap houses will make some wretched Methode Champenoise sparklers themselves.

        But I've never seen an Methode Champenoise wine that didn't, at the very least, have lots of tiny bubbles.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Informative)

        by phayes ( 202222 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @01:44PM (#7867664) Homepage
        Due to a French court decision a few years back, it is now illegal (in europe & other countries that respect "l'Appelation d'Origine Controlle" or AOC that you see on most european wines) for wines grown outside of the region of champagne that use the secondary fermentation process to say so on the bottle. According to the Champagne winegrowers association the mere mention of the use of "methode champenoise" even if it is in small print on the back lable was enough to confuse the public into thinking that it came from Champagne (& was thus protected by the AOC).

        This happened around the time Rambus was trying to litigate the rest of the world into submission instead of producing a better product & letting the market decide. Draw your own conclusions, but this was when I stopped buying champagne.

        Another thing that turned me off champagne is that 90% of the champagne that is produced is what is called a "Vin d'Assemblage" or fabricated wine. Most wines are the product of a single year & region. This is why you can see both the origin (AOC again) & the year on the bottle. However, this is not usually the case for champagnes. Just before the wine is ready for the secondary fermentation it is tasted. To eliminate the differences in taste from year to year, wine fom different years (& often sugar) is added so that the champagne will have a predictable taste.

        So, unless it is an exceptional year, wine from champagne does not have a date on the bottle. As they are fabricated wines, they age badly & must be dunken young.

        Champagnes that DO have a date (Called Milesime in french) ARE exceptional. Unforunately they also sport a price tag to match. You can leave these bottles in a wine cellar & they get better & better -- to a point as really old champagnes loose their C02.

        There are a lot of really excellent sparkling wines out there that are cheaper than most champagnes. My personal favorite is the Vouvray Petillant from the Loire valley region in France. These are not fabricated wines, so some years are better than others, but in 1990 I put a case of 12 bottles away to be opened on new years eve 2001. There were other "champagnes" served that night, including some very expensive bottles but none was as fine as the Vouvrays & the case of 12 was cheaper than a single bottle of the good "Real Champagne".
        • I thought the addition of sugar was always necessary to provide fuel for the secondary fermentation?
          • Not always. Some wines have enough sugar left over after the primary fermentation, so no sugar is needed. I don't know how often they need to add sugar as the winegrowers I have talked to have different stories. Most say that the other guys always have to add sugar while they rarely/never need to...
    • It's only Champagne if it's bottled in Champagne, France. Otherwise, it's sparkling wine.

      Says who? The French who live in Champagne, France? What if I live in Champagne, Texas? What i I just wan to call my motor oil Champagne for the hell of it? Kleenex is "tissue" even if it's made by Puffs.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Says who? The French who live in Champagne, France?

        Exactly. The French have a law for what they call appellation d'origine controlee [yahoo.com]. It basically says that Champagne can only be called Champagne if it's made in Champagne, Brie in Brie and Tripoux d'Auvergne (you don't even wanna know what that is) in, you guessed it, Auvergne.

        Of course, these laws don't mean anything outside of France (or perhaps they do now in the EU, but I don't know about that).

      • The place the product is produced being part of the name is a traditional thing.
        This is like trademarks we have today.

        Kleenex is a trademark, only Kimberly Clark can call their product Kleenex.
        Only Champagne produced sparkling white wine should be called Champagne.
        Coke and cola, Skidoo and snowmobile, liquid paper and correction fluid, Post it Notes and whatever they actually are the list goes on.

        It isn't like it is some huge leap of logic, just because the name of something has become so common that peop
      • The EU. You can't call it Paramesan cheese unless it's made in Parma Italy, as well.

    • Nitpicking... (Score:2, Informative)

      by igrp ( 732252 )
      Well, since the US never signed or ratified the Treaty of Versailles [wikipedia.org] that's not entirely true [cnn.com].

      Some countries, e.g. Germany, still have laws prohibiting the use of the term champagne (same thing applies to "cognac", cf. Article 275 of the Treaty of Versailles [yale.edu]).

      Nowadays, that's hardly more than a weird relict though - think about it: it's not really Kleenex unless its made by Kimberly-Clark. If it's generic it's a just facial tissue product. Same thing...

    • It's only Champagne if it's bottled in Champagne, France. Otherwise, it's sparkling wine.

      Unless of course your country was in the midst of prohibition and didn't sign the treaty with France agreeing not to call their sparkling wines Champagne [cnn.com]. So rejoice fellow Americans you can call sparkling wines in America Champagne! I realize, of course, that's like calling Budweiser or Miller beer. But hey it's America, and it can get you stinking drunk much cheaper.
      • The interesting point is that you can often tell "good" American sparkling wine apart from cheap crap simply because most of the finer sparkling wine houses don't claim to be "Champagne" whereas most of the cheap crap houses do.

        Similarly, American Bordeaux is almost always bad, whereas if they call it something else and then quietly say that it's made in the Bordeaux style, it'll be more likely to be good.
      • "that's like calling Budweiser or Miller beer."

        Funnily enough, Miller refers to their "High Life" beer as "the Champagne of beers".

      • Thanks for the link, I've always wondered why you could call sparkling wines Champage in the the USA but not elsewhere.

        France added an amendment to the treaty of Versailles that ended WW1 that forced every country that signed it to acknowledge only champagne that comes from the champagne region in France may be called champagne.

        However, I've got a bone to pick with the CNN article.

        Wines from Champagne may have been known from roman times, but not the sparkling wines we have come to know as "Champagne". C
    • It's only Champagne if it's bottled in Champagne, France. Otherwise, it's sparkling wine.

      Cuvee (slashdot won't accept the accent) if you want a fancy sounding name.

    • Re:Actually... (Score:2, Informative)

      by kfg ( 145172 )
      In the true sense you'd be correct. In the legal sense you are not. The people of Champagne did not do a good job of protecting their trademark internationally, therefore if I go into a local store looking for real Champagne I have to specify such. My locale (upstate NY) is one of the world's major producers of "Champagne," each bottle clearly labeled "Champagne" in big, bold letters.

      Which is why any Frenchman laughing at the cultural idiocy of an American could be legitimately laughed right back at for th

  • If only (Score:5, Insightful)

    by frankmanowar ( 583879 ) <frankmanowar&yahoo,com> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:23PM (#7867272) Homepage
    If only there were a way to measure the bubble size before you spend the money on the champagne.

    • Re:If only (Score:5, Informative)

      by fastidious edward ( 728351 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:37PM (#7867348)
      If you buy from a good wine shop they should know. Not only do small bubbles enhance the tastes, they result in a creamy (rather than fizzy) texture which is most welcomed by the back of my throat as well as the taste buds, the stomach and the mind.

      If you want fizzy wine to be 'a bit different' to get drunk on choose any cheap plonk (Cava fits the bill well and is also tasty), if you want a decent champagne you can get this for ~USD35 at a specialist wine shop or specialist (staffed by those who are passionate about wince, rather than in-between semesters or on remand) wine section of a shopping mall. Non-champagne sparkling wines are also improving in quality (And sometimes are excellent), but don't expect anything too cheap, if it is cheap it'll get you drunk but won't be the amazing experience good champagne can be.

      Don't follow the big names either. For example Bollinger only starts getting good well past USD70/bottle, a lower priced bottle can be just as good at much less cost.

    • Re:If only (Score:2, Insightful)

      by pp ( 4753 )
      Measure the weight of your wallet before and after? Price tends to correlate with taste (and thus size of bubbles)

      Fortunately there are plenty of cheap alternatives to the over-priced (but excellent) authentic stuff. I like the Hungarian Torley (dry, of course). Almost as good as the low-end 20-25 euro champagnes for a fraction of the price.

      Would be nice to have a really good excuse for buying a bottle of Dom Perignon, though ;)

  • champagne bubbles (Score:5, Informative)

    by tuxette ( 731067 ) * <(tuxette) (at) (gmail.com)> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:23PM (#7867274) Homepage Journal
    They get you drunk faster. [about.com]

  • Size does count. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Metallic Matty ( 579124 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:24PM (#7867276)
    ... smaller is better.

    This is quite possibly the only instance I can think of where this is true.

    Cheers. =)

  • No thanks (Score:5, Funny)

    by Quasar1999 ( 520073 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:24PM (#7867279) Journal
    I like free beer better... ;)

  • Another link (Score:2, Informative)

    by AndroidCat ( 229562 )
    Scientists say champagne taste is all in the bubbles [ananova.com] Ah hell, here's a whole pile of Google links [google.ca] Cheers!

  • Finally Stuff That Matters! (Score:3, Funny)

    by bobalu ( 1921 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:34PM (#7867335)
    Well now, it's about time alcohol technology gets it's due here!

    Maybe we need a section for martini recipes.... the original open-source?

    How about the pros and cons of RFID tags on Bordeaux bottles?

    "warez" for basement absinthe makers?
    • And thank you for making me feel my age! Even at a ripe old 34 I can remember that song being played in the 70's. Don Ho the original Hawaiian lounge lizard. And just for the younger crowd who had the good fortune not to be around when this was a hit. Here are the lyrics, may god forgive me. Tiny bubbles (tiny bubbles) In the wine (in the wine) Make me happy (make me happy) Make me feel fine (make me feel fine) Tiny bubbles (tiny bubbles) Make me warm all over With a feeling that I'm gonna Love you

  • Now we are onto NEWS over 20 years old (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cdn-programmer ( 468978 ) <<ten.cigolarret> <ta> <rret>> on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:44PM (#7867380)
    Yes - this is over 20 years old. No doubt next we'll be hearing that oak makes some red wines taste better.

    Talk about scraping the bottom of the old wine barrel looking for a story eh?

  • moderation (Score:2, Funny)

    by iamthemoog ( 410374 )
    ...providing you use moderation...

    I moderate this bubble as being overrated.
    (Much like this post)

    • No Norm, those are your safety glasses; I'll wear my own thanks...

      Should I be scared that I know exactly what you're referring to? I found it odd that he doesn't sell them on his website, since we need those particular safety glasses.

  • beer (Score:2, Interesting)

    by danger ian ( 570079 )
    does this hold true for beer?

  • An interesting aside... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by openSoar ( 89599 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @12:57PM (#7867446)
    The sediment that is produced after the sugar and yeast have made these little bubble is removed by freezing the neck of the bottle whilst it's upside down and then removing the plug of 'goo'.

    That's why Champagne bottles have that large foil top - historically, it was used to cover up the fact that you were being short-changed. Now that we have standards and things, these days, they fill the gap with a similar blend before it's corked.

    Who knows why they didn't do that before...

  • I thought everybody knew this! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by csoto ( 220540 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @01:03PM (#7867470)
    It's been known since the Dom popped his first couple of corks.

    Anyway, be sure to always drink from leaded crystal, which has the right sort of pore structure to support continuous beads of tiny bubbles (given a good wine sample - Korbel ain't never gonna taste good).

    • Actually, I'd have to defend Korbel a little.

      Their best stuff that Korbel makes is the stuff that's not sold all over the place for standard "American" tastes. In fact, the best stuff that comes out of California and is, at the same time, economical, isn't given wide distribution. They can't change Korbel Brut too much for the same reason why Coke failed at New Coke, which tasted "better" but wasn't what people were used to.
    • Anyway, be sure to always drink from leaded crystal, which has the right sort of pore structure to support continuous beads of tiny bubbles (given a good wine sample - Korbel ain't never gonna taste good).

      I usually only drink Champagne that comes out of a box or a bottle with a screw on cap. Is the stuff made by this Don guy any better?

  • Every french person knows that before puberty! What to discover next, "ice cube is a red bordeaux is a bad idea" ? or "people who put fizzy water in their chablis should be shot" ?

  • No! Champagne must be aged under a pyramid! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rueger ( 210566 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @01:25PM (#7867567) Homepage
    Truly, a very fine champagne style wine is produced by the Summerhill Estate Winery [summerhill.bc.ca] in Kelowna, British Columbia. Their secret is to age the wine under a carefully constructed pyramid [summerhill.bc.ca] so that "all the atoms spin the same direction".

    "The site was carefully chosen. First a check of interfering energies was exhausted (i.e. underground streams, electric current exposure, gas line interference, etc.). Then the earth under the pyramid was compacted to 100%. Then a surveyor lined up the square base to coincide with exact True North as it is here in Kelowna. The area was then checked by an astronomer who lines up the foundation to the North Star precisely. It is interesting to note that much excitement took place when we aligned the site because the astronomer's news that almost to the day, 1997 was "the year of the Great Pyramid"."

    "The pyramid effectiveness may also be explained using Einstein's concept of Tachyons and Tardyons. Tachyons are particles of invisible energy that move faster than the speed of light (that means it is faster than 186,282 miles per second). Tardyons behave in the opposite way, moving below or at the speed of light. This brings about the theory of negative space-time. [Negative space-time is 180 degrees from positive space-time. In positive space-time living organisms change from life to deterioration. In negative space-time, life moves from deterioration to rejuvenation. It is said that the pyramid serves as the interface between positive and negative space-time."

    Scoff if you wish, but they make some very, very fine wine.

  • .. if little bubbles will my my everclear taste any better...
  • I had my first taste of real French champagne this New Year's Eve....woweee wow wow!!. It was a 1990. The stuff tasted fantastic but was so powerful it made my hands numb during the first glass.

    The taste was incredible. I always thought that French champagne had to be an overblown snob legend. It isn't. It really transports you taste wise. I had it with celebratory popcorn being a peasant n' all.

    • Good first glass...

      Firstly, Veuve Clicquot are an excellent producer. Secondly, you got one of the finest years in a very long time. If memory serves me well, there hasn't been a better year since.

      I personally had a 1990 Lanson and it was brilliant.

      Don't expect the non-vintage stuff to be a patch on what you had, btw. Personally, I drink cheap fizz from Spain or regional France instead of NV champagne.

  • i like my champagne like my women - cheap and sweet.


    a six-buck bottle of ballatore is fine for me. usually i mix it with orange juice (mimosa) or peach nectar (bellini) anyway.

  • As many wine enthusiast already know, most of the appreciation of a wine/champagne comes from its aroma/smell rather than its "taste" per se.

    Biologically speaking, although our sense of smell pales in comparison to many other mammals, our olfactory capability (in our nose) is still superior to our "tasting" capability (taste buds on our tongue).

    This is the main reason why some wine drinkers swirl/gurgle their wine in their mouth when tasting. The swirl/gurgle allows the aroma to develop in the mouth cavi

  • GREAT Timing!!!!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Rastafarout ( 701265 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @02:00PM (#7867742)
    This gets posted 2 full DAYS after New Years, and 36 hours before the first Monday morning of 2004.

    THANKS for the timely advice! I'll keep that piece of useless information firmly stored in my head for another 360-ish!!
  • From my saltwater aquarium days, I noticed that bubble size is related to higher salinity; which is also related to water density. I imagine these also affect surface tension too.

  • Good science? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by steppin_razor_LA ( 236684 ) on Saturday January 03, 2004 @04:24PM (#7868552) Journal
    I only read the discovery article, but the science seems a bit weak to me.

    From what I gather, they took a number of sparkling wines that were rated of different qualities and then tried to determine the difference. Given this methodology, its not at all surprising that they found that the size of the bubbles was the differentiator since I was under the impression it was already well known that smaller bubbles was better.

    If the wine tasting community already believed that smaller bubbles were better and that influenced their ranking, then it shouldn't be too surprising that the study turned up a correlation.

    Perhaps I'm not giving the study enough credit -- because Discovery doesn't go into that level of detail... but I hope that they used some sort of blind taste test w/ people other than trained wine tasters to establish the ranking system for the different champagnes that they tested...
  • 1. Buy wine two seasons before the winter, and prime them your self, add sugar and yeast to produce small bubbles
    2. Sell them in the holidays
    3. Profit!

  • So now we go to the store and count the bubbles? Or the size of them? With tiny meters? And don't we have to open the champagne before we get bubbles?

    Oh well, if I get to a restaurant and get a glass with big bubbles I will send it back. Waiter, could I get another glass? The bubbles are too big.

    Sheesh.

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