How to put the fizz into flat champagne

Why do some glasses of champagne have no fizz while others poured from the same bottle have plenty of bubbles?
G.J., Geelong West, Vic

A: When some glasses have bubbles and others don’t, it’s clearly not the bottle of champagne that’s at fault, it’s the glasses. If every glass poured is flat, it could be that the bottle has lost its gas, but that’s highly unlikely. In my experience, that almost never happens.

Loading

Your problem is the glassware. The glasses with plenty of fizz have been properly cleaned; those that present the same wine flat have a problem. The usual reason for a fizz-less glass is that there is a slight residue of something oily coating the interior of the glass. It could be cooking oil from a spell in the dishwasher, or greasy, food-smeared lips sipping at the brim; even lipstick has been reported as a bubble suppressant.

Why should such things have this effect? Bubbles arise from imperfections in the surface of the glass itself. Examination by microscope reveals that the surface of glass is jagged, not smooth. When a liquid is poured into a glass bowl, tiny pockets of air are trapped in these imperfections. These act as sites for the evolution of bubbles (dissolved carbon dioxide in the wine turns back into gas and appears as a little airball or sac), which naturally rise to the surface. This results in the pretty streams of fine bubbles we see when we look into a glass of sparkling wine. An oily or greasy residue gums up the works and stops this bubble evolution. Result: a flat glass of fizz.

Loading

The best way to fix this unhappy state of affairs is to wash the offending glass under very hot water. Just dry it and cool it before you re-pour the wine. Sometimes, a “flat glass” can be brought to life by scratching the interior of the bowl with a sharp instrument, like a pointed knife. Happily, despite the state of the glass, the wine will be fizzy as normal when you tip it into your mouth.

Got a drinks question for Huon Hooke? [email protected]

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.