Champagne Bubbles Are the Key to its Flavour

A new report by Dr Gerard Liger-Belair of Reims University, France has discovered that it's the bubbles that give Champagne its flavour. This confirms the long-held view that Champagnes with a fine and persistent mousse, or stream of bubbles, are of a higher quality. In research at the University of Reims its been found that the bubbles can contain up to 30 times more flavour than the champagne itself and have a very different chemical fingerprint. The mousse acts as a flavour delivery system with the rising and collapsing bubbles releasing aroma compounds on a continuous cycle.

Dr Liger-Belair said in the PNAS report that: "It's the very first time that we have been able to detect the fine chemistry of champagne aerosols which are really the essence of champagne." Dr Liger-Belair admits to having been "obsessed" with bubbles all his life. He used an ultra-high resolution mass spectrometer to study the detailed chemical composition of the aerosols emerging from sparkling wine and champagne.

Dr Liger-Belair and his colleague Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, of the Institute for Ecological Chemistry and Molecular BioGeochemistry in Neuherberg, have studied five champagnes and high-quality sparkling wines so far. They discovered that in all cases the bubbles were very much richer in the essential flavours of the wine.

This may help to explain why sparkling wines made by the same techniques as Champagne ie the Méthode Champenoise (or Méthode Traditionnelle), taste so much better than those which are not. There are around 49 million bubbles in a 750ml bottle of champagne (calculated by scientist Bill Lembeck, based on 5.5 atmospheres of pressure, when stored at 20ºC) and the pressure in a bottle of champagne is 90 pounds per square inch, about three times that in a car tyre!

The best glass to drink Champagne from is not the saucer shaped Champagne Coupe but a Champagne flute. Legend has it that the shape of the Champagne Coupe was modelled on the breast of Marie Antoinette but as a glass to drink from it is too wide and too shallow - the bubbles can’t make long beaded streams, the mousse dissipates instantly and the Champagne goes lifeless in a few minutes because there’s a very large surface area to volume.

If you are a lover of Champagne then I would recommend Seconde Collard which is made in the heart of the Champagne region, in a hamlet called Bouzy, situated between Reims and Epernay, in an area referred to Montagne de Reims. It is one of the top 17 Grand Cru vineyards and Champagne Houses Taittinger and Moet can be found just up the road.

Philippe Seconde is a 5th generation producer and is descended from the famous Champagne House of Edmond Barnaut founded in 1874. Edmond Barnaut was one of the first pioneers in Champagne to create his own brand outside of the controlling centres of Epernay and Reims.

Philippe makes both a Blanc de Noirs Brut (from 100% Pinot Noir) and a Grand Reserve Brut (67% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay). Grande Reserve Champagnes are those that have Champagne added to them from a reserved vintage which is the flagship of the House. Both retail at £16.13 and are a superb bargain. There is also a fantastic Rosé: the Authentic Rosé Brut (50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay) at £18.10 and a wonderful Vintage Champagne: Champagne Vintage Brut Millesimes 1998 (50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay) at £26.42.

These Champagnes are all on offer with Free Delivery at the Wine Shop if you fancy a little festive fizz!