Finally grabbed a case after talking about it and price for so long in other thread. Will follow it for a couple days but day 1 is over so notes below.
Opened at 10am, followed for 10 hours.
On opening very primary with notes of lemon and green apples back in fridge to revisit with some air. After 5 hours in middle of a disappointing Seahawks performance, the wine shows high acidity, apples, lemons, ginger, almond skin, and laser like precision with loads of minerality. It has grown in weight while remaining light on its feet over the day.
Thanks for the note. I’m not a big champagne guy but I bought a couple of these to sock away. As I am innocent in the ways of champagne, I had imagined that it goes flattish if you leave it open for hours. Not so? How long can excellent champagne stay open before tragedy like that strikes?
Will let you know if it makes it 3 days but a zero change over 24 hours on day 2, although the wine has really opened up and shows more spice and leans more apple than lemon and has picked up weight and texture in the mouthfeel.
In general young ‘Méthode Champenoise’ wines will keep there bubbles very strongly for over 24 hours. The bubbles are sort of built in. I think once you start getting some years from the disgorgement you see the bubbles fade over shorter periods of time. Old Champagnes often have lighter bubbles than young wines right when popped. I leave young Champagnes open in the fridge accidentally all the time. They are always fine the next day.
I think a lot of the reputation for bubbles fading comes from wines where the bubbles are put into the wine after the fact or from other methods. Those fade like a soda would.
Champagne never sees another day at our house, and I find stoppers actually reduce fizz each time you use one as it releases trapped CO2 each time you open it.
You should try tight young Champagne on Day 2. Why not?
Of course, removing a stopper the next day releases CO2 from the headspace unless you injected gas to fill the headspace. So I’m not sure what you are saying. It’s better than no stopper. Or aluminum foil (which I also have done in a pinch).
This. If you’ve ever schlepped wine from account to account trying to use a stopper to keep the fizz you learn this very quickly. You’re better off just leaving it open than trying to seal and reopen it 7 times.
I don’t quite understand that. If you leave it unsealed it will be continuously leaking CO2 out at a rate proportional to the CO2 concentration in the wine. If you put a stopper on it, it will equilibriate pressure inside of the bottle and, yes, release some CO2 upon unsealing but at least it won’t be continuously leaking CO2.
Wait what? How does this make any sense? using the stopper doesn’t induce CO2 release, that happens passively at atmospheric pressure. In fact, the stopper probably slows down the loss of bubbles, because pressure would build up inside the bottle, which is why you hear the trapped air escaping when you do open up the stopper.
FWIW I had a 95 Comtes Friday night to celebrate the Great American Tradition of the banning of the President on Twitter. After about 3 hours open and coming to room temperature it may have been the best bottle of champagne Ive ever had. Still had slight effervesence but amazing complexity and loooong finish. I wont forget that one for a while or until I drink my other one. Its an early candidate for my 2021 WOTY which is interesting as last years (91 Mondavi reserve) came in early January also .
Oh and not a Great American Tradition you say??? Well it is one NOW!!!
I drank an ‘07 over three nights last week (Marybeth is in the midst of a dry January). It was best on the third, and the bead hadn’t suffered too much. 2007 is an earlier drinking vintage than the ‘08. I’m planning to open ‘07s to conserve my other vintages.
Off hand, the outgassing of CO2 should be a function of pressure and temperature. The stopper allows you to increase pressure as more CO2 outgasses, so it should reduce the rate of emission. I cant see any mechanism where a stopper helps to increase the rate of emission tbh
