Bubbles Essential to Champagne Taste/Smell {The 5th Sense in the News}
Photo © Gaetan Lee
French physicist researcher Gérard Liger-Belair used to be an oceanographer before having to quit his profession due to an accident. Next, while he was feeling bluesy and contemplating beer bubbles he decided to research the dynamic of their effervescence. This led him to a doctoral dissertation on the topic with Champagne wine now a prime object of research.
Among the things his research shows is that bubbles form because of impurities and that the more bubbles there are, the more aromatic molecules get released. From a practical point of view, the Champagne flute therefore wins over the round cup as it encourages the formation of more numerous bubbles spread out evenly. They are also bigger in a flute thus debunking the myth that fine bubbles signal a better Champagne as is commonly asserted by tasters.
Read more (in French)....
