Wine expert quashes spoon in prosecco theory and offers alternative

Many of us enjoy a tipple every now and then – especially a bubbly one. But what do you do if you can’t finish it all in one sitting? How do you keep it fizzy until next time?

Sure, most people might simply reach for a teaspoon and pop it in the open top, before placing the bottle of wine in the fridge. However, according to an expert, this spoon hack isn’t actually as helpful as you might think – it’s a ‘myth’ and doesn’t do anything to keep the bubbles in the bottle.

Carlos Santos, the wine and operations manager at Humble Grape, has debunked the spoon hack and shared the best tip for storing beverages. 

Speaking to The Mirror, he said: “Many times in friends’ houses, in fridges and even sometimes in restaurants I’ve seen people putting a little teaspoon in a bottle of sparkling wine. Does this really work? Not really. That’s because the bubbles in the wine were created by a secondary fermentation, which creates CO2. The CO2 remains in the wine because the bottle is kept under pressure and has nowhere to go.

“But in this case, a teaspoon isn’t going to keep the wine in the bottle under pressure which means it won’t stop the CO2 that’s dissolved in the wine from coming out of the solution and evaporating.”

Instead of a teaspoon, you’ll need to buy a proper tool to keep the bubbles in your booze.

“The best way to keep your bubbly fresh is to either drink and share the whole bottle with your friends, or to use a champagne stop as that will keep the bottle under pressure and stop the CO2 from coming out,” Carlos advises.

Champagne stoppers can be purchased online from sites like Amazon for around £5. These clamp down around the top of the bottle to create pressure.

If you’re wondering how to store other types of wine, the expert has some words of wisdom for this too, as he warns not to keep any wine purchased over the last year for too long in a bid to ‘age’ them, as they won’t store well.

He explains: “With regular still, white and red wines it’s important to remember that 95 per cent of the wines sold in the UK last year were sold for earlier consumption which means those wines do not age well, they were made to be drunk immediately. So that bottle of champagne you got for Christmas, or that lovely bottle of Bordeaux, start thinking about getting it out of the cupboard and drinking it because it wasn’t made to age for very long.”

He adds that if you are planning to store any wine for a while at home, there are two places to avoid at all costs.

“Now if you want to keep wine for a little while at home, always remember that the worst enemies to wine are temperature and sunlight. So storing wine near the oven or hob is definitely a bad idea because of changes in temperature.

“Storing it near or under a window is also a bad idea as sunlight can damage the wine. If you want to keep it fresh for longer, keep it away from heat and sunlight. Cool, dark places are the best to store your wine.”