The Size of Champagne Bubbles…

Karen, does the size of the bubbles in Champagne mean anything?

Yes.  If you look closely, you’ll find that among Champagnes and top sparkling wines, bubble size does differ slightly.  The tiniest bubbles are the result of especially long aging on the yeasts, as well as the temperature of the aging cellar (the cooler the cellar, the smaller the bubbles).  This is why ultra tiny bubbles are usually found in Champagnes known as prestige cuvées.  A prestige cuvée is a Champagne firm’s top wine.  Compared to non vintage and even vintage Champagnes, prestige cuvées spend a longer time aging on the yeasts (as much as seven years), and are kept in the coldest parts of the cellar.  A Champagne firm’s prestige cuvée is always given a special proprietary name.  Dom Perignon, for example, is the prestige cuvée of the firm Moet & Chandon.  Veuve Clicquot’s prestige cuvée is La Grande Dame; and so on.  Of course, compared to, say, the big bubbles in sparkling water or soda pop, the bubbles in any Champagne would be considered very small.  Sparkling water and soda pop are carbonated (injected with gas to create bubbles), while Champagnes and top sparkling wines derive their bubbles from dissolved carbon dioxide gas pent up inside each bottle.  When you pop the cork and release the pressure, the gas bursts into diminutive bubbles.

— Karen

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