Although champagne tastes best served chilled, storing your bubbly in the fridge for too long could ruin its flavour, according to experts. Marie-Christine Osselin, the wine quality manager at Moët & Chandon, said that rather than preserving its fizz, storing your champagne in the fridge could actually be spoiling its taste – and the same applies to bottles of prosecco, cava and sparkling wine.
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The wine expert says that if you're planning to drink your bubbly within a few days then it is fine to store in the fridge short term, but after that its flavour could be affected. Marie-Christine told Huffington Post: "If you're planning to enjoy your bottle of champagne (or sparkling wine) within three to four days of the purchase, it is fine to store the bottle in the refrigerator. But only keep it in the fridge for a few days, or else the bubbly will begin to change."
Storing champagne in the fridge for too long can ruin its flavour
Champagne will begin to change taste if chilled for too long because fridges are dry places and can begin to alter the state of the cork. "As corks dry out, the seal between the bottle and the cork loosen up and the champagne will oxidise faster, changing its aromas," Marie-Christine explained. Instead, the expert has recommended storing champagne and other sparkling wines in a cool, dry place that is away from direct sunlight and keeps a consistent temperature. And rather than putting it into the fridge to cool it down before serving, she says that an ice bucket is best to keep your bubbly cold.
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The advice will be of interest to the nation of wine lovers; a recent report from The Consortium for the Protection of Prosecco revealed that Brits are the biggest of fans of prosecco in the world. Out of the 410.9 million bottles of prosecco produced in 2016, one third came straight to the UK – equating to roughly 135,597,000 bottles!
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