Why does putting a spoon in the top of a bottle of Champagne keep it fizzy?

Answer 1

It makes no difference.

It is an old wives tale -- and to be correct the spoon must be made of silver.


The fact is that the the spoon makes absolutely no difference.

It is important to understand that the story refers to Champagne -- i.e the wine from Champagne France, but in fact any wine made by the Champagne method works the same (but not cheap copies or coca-cola).

If you put the bottle upright in the fridge door the rising bubbles create a layer of carbon dioxide on the surface of the wine that seals the bottle and thus the bubbles are preserved --whether or not there is a silver (or plastic)spoon in the neck.

But to get even better bubbles, use a purpose made fizz preserver.

And if you regularly have unfinished Champagne may I suggest buying half bottles? They are between two)

Answer 2

According to "Mythbusters," a TV program on the Discovery Channel, it doesn't. They experimented with various bottles of champagne, and in a blind taste test, the one with the silver spoon was the least fizzy after 24 hours.

Another myth, busted!

Answer 3

It just restricts air flow into the bottle (or out of). Best to buy a champagne stopper at your local wine shop, there cheap and work much better. Usually with me, there's not much left to save once I've opened a bottle.

Answer 4

It doesn't. Some people swear by it, claiming a chemical reaction, but I seriously seriously doubt that it does much of anything.