Bubbelicious

Champagne has been the effervescent symbol of festivity, finesse and sparkling frivolity for centuries. Behind every festive pop of the cork is a world of precision, climate challenges and cellar wisdom.
Text: Anja Vondenhoff | Image: Pexels

Bubbles are booming. Yet the trends of this festive wine shift every vintage. Notable this year is the revaluation of the big bottles by cellar masters. These have rediscovered the power of the big bottle. This is not just down to the motto ‘the bigger the bottle, the bigger the party’, there is more to it. It's about maturation, as new climate challenges threaten to lower acidity slightly. This affects the final flavour. So it is important to be able to maintain the typical long bottle ageing for champagne in a different way. One way to ensure this is to fill the champagne into a larger bottle. 

From magnum to midas

The advantages of large bottles are considerable. First, there is the slower oxidation: in a magnum (1.5 L) or jéroboam (3 L), the ratio of oxygen to wine is more favourable than in a standard bottle. So there is proportionally less oxygen in the bottle. Thereby, both standard bottles and magnums have the same neck diameter of 17.5 millimetres. This may seem like a detail, but the larger volume in the bottle makes a world of difference. Because of that opening, proportionally less oxygen enters a magnum, making the maturation slower and more subtle. For the enthusiast, this is a blessing: the champagne develops more slowly and the optimal drinking moment is prolonged.

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