A Simple Freakin' T-Stopper Kept My Sparkling Perfectly Carbonated

WINE TALK
1

Berserkz,

So I occasionally drink a sparkling Moscato D’Asti or Brachetto D’Acqui and in very rare instances, a half bottle of Champagne. I have tried everything to keep the leftovers carbonated that didn’t involve spending thousands on an argon machine – screwcap bottle transfers, glass-lok bottle transfers, those metal clamping contraptions that lock on to the top of an open bottle like a reverse Vice-Grip… nothing works. The fizz is gone after a day or two.

Last week, on a whim (or maybe just feeling lazy), I opened a bottle of Bera 2012 Moscato D’Asti and just popped in a clean T-stopper which was a really tight fit into the bottle opening… and the wine kept its fizz for 3 straight days. We’re talking even up until the last third of the bottle. Huh. Go figure. champagne.gif

I’ll be very curious to see if this works with far more pressurized sparkling wine like champagne but I was quite surprised that this low tech answer proved to be the solution I was looking for.

2

I’ve had prosecco left in the refrigerator open over night. Bubbles intacted the next day, go figure.

3

Champagne keeps fine with no stopper overnight.

4

What’s a t stopper?

5

A cork stopper with a round handle on top to pull it out as opposed to a fully imbedded cork. Looks like a T with a thin top line and a very fat middle line made out of cork. I thought all you wine sophisticates commonly referred to these as T-stoppers.

6

I usually use one of these :

and finish the bottle the day after or sometimes 2 days after and it’s still bubbly as ever.