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It is not uncommon for uncorked champagne to remain after the event and the question of its further storage arises. Producers prefer to use corks made from cork oak, which are not suitable for reuse. Therefore, closing open champagne back is not easy, but possible. Let’s look at a few ways to preserve the drink and minimize the loss of carbon dioxide.
How to securely cork champagne
The cork takes on its characteristic mushroom shape while in the bottle. At factories, champagne is corked with smooth cork cylinders, which differ from ordinary wine corks only in size. The enterprises have installed special equipment that compresses the heated wood material and inserts it with force into the neck, where the lower part expands and holds a strong gas pressure. When the bottle is opened, the cork expands in size and cannot be inserted back.
The easiest and most reliable way to close open champagne is to use special corks that are sold in wine boutiques and online stores.
Common modifications:
- electric – equipped with a digital screen, remove air from the bottle in a few seconds, record the opening time and temperature of the drink, protect the contents of the container from contact with the environment;
- with a manual pump – such models are put on the neck, then they press the pump at the top several times to pump air out of the bottle;
- silicone plugs are usually made in combination with steel, they are provided with a silicone inner part that closes the neck, and side clips snap into place on the sides;
- cork – universal cork plugs that expand from the bottom up and are suitable for capping any bottles, more effective when heated;
- plastic – a budget option, usually sold in sets, but PVC sealing leaves much to be desired.
The cost of models differs from the level of functionality. Using vacuum stoppers, you can keep champagne for up to three days with virtually no loss of the properties of the drink, and keep the bottles lying down. Budget modifications work worse – for two days the wine will still be saturated with bubbles if stored in the refrigerator.
If you buy corks in foreign online stores, take into account the difference in size: in the USA, the neck diameter of sparkling wine bottles is 26 mm, and in Europe it is 29 mm.
How to close a bottle of champagne using improvised means
If there is no special cork, you can use the usual one for non-sparkling wine, but it does not always fit in size, in this case, a thin food film is used as a sealant, which must be wound in several layers and try to tightly seal the neck.
You can close the champagne with a regular plastic bag or film. A medical fingertip, or part of a thin glove, is also suitable for these purposes. The material is stretched around the neck, and fixed with household elastic bands. The bottle should be kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator so that the gas will evaporate more slowly.
How long can you keep open champagne
Western restaurants and bars seal expensive champagne using special devices such as the Perlage System, which fills open bottles with gas, after which they can be stored for a month. There are also home modifications of the system with replaceable CO2 cartridges, but they are unreasonably expensive and are not sold in Russia.
Under normal conditions, when using vacuum stoppers, you should not store champagne for more than three days, so as not to lose the quality of the drink.
Sparkling wine should be immediately put in the refrigerator, in this case, even with the neck open, after a day the bubbles will still remain.
You should not try to pour the drink into another bottle, as their shape is specially designed to distribute carbon dioxide evenly inside.