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5 min read
The Art of Preserving Champagne
At Champagne Lallier, we believe that each bottle is a testament to meticulous craftsmanship and the passage of time. Like all fine wines, Champagne is a living entity, evolving and maturing with each passing day. Whether you’ve just opened a bottle or are cellaring one for a special occasion, understanding how to preserve its freshness and vibrancy is key to unlocking the full potential of your Champagne experience.
Storing Opened Champagne
Sometimes, you may just want a glass as an aperitif and want to save the rest of the bottle. In those instances, preserving the effervescence and delicate flavors of your Champagne becomes a priority.
Here’s how to ensure your opened bottle of Champagne Lallier remains vibrant for days to come:
- Seal it tight: contrary to popular belief, a spoon in the neck of the bottle won’t do the trick. “Use a proper Champagne closure to create an airtight seal,” advises our global brand ambassador, Sarah Durand. “This prevents air from entering and oxidizing the wine, preserving its bubbles and freshness.”
- Store it upright: always store your opened Champagne upright in the refrigerator. It’s not only easier to do so, but it also minimizes the wine’s surface area exposed to air, slowing down oxidation and preserving the bubbles
- Keep it cool and dark: place the bottle in the coldest part of your refrigerator. This helps to maintain the Champagne’s delicate aromas and flavors. Additionally, avoid direct light exposure, as it can degrade the wine’s quality
- Enjoy within five days: well-sealed and properly stored bottle of Champagne can retain its effervescence for up to five days, depending on the amount of remaining wine in the bottle (the more wine left in the bottle, the longer we can keep it in sparkling condition). However, we recommend enjoying it sooner rather than later to fully experience its peak flavor and vibrancy
By following these simple steps, you can savor every last drop of your Champagne Lallier.
How Long an Unopened bottle of Champagne Lasts
Each bottle of Champagne Lallier honors the art of time and craftsmanship. Our Champagnes are not merely beverages to be consumed; they are treasures to be savored and cherished, often improving with age.
That said, our Champagnes are already aged to perfection in our cellars before release. We carefully determine the optimal time to share each cuvée with the world, ensuring it is ready to be enjoyed upon uncorking. However, should you wish to embark on your own aging journey, proper cellaring is essential.
Our Millésimé 2014 and Ouvrage, for example, are particularly well-suited for cellaring, and will evolve gracefully for many more years, even decades, developing greater complexity and richness over time.
How to Store Unopened Champagne
To ensure your unopened bottles reach their full potential, we invite you to embrace the art of cellaring, a practice that honors the wine’s delicate nature and unlocks hidden depths of flavor.
Just like our own prized cuvées slumbering in the cool, silent depths of our underground cellars, your Champagne Lallier prefers a cool, undisturbed environment, where darkness reigns.
Avoid storing your Champagne Lallier in the kitchen, where fluctuating temperatures from cooking and baking can disrupt its delicate balance.
Remember, patience is a virtue when it comes to Champagne. By providing a serene resting place for your unopened bottles, you’ll be rewarded with a symphony of flavors when the time comes to uncork and enjoy.
To ensure your unopened bottle of Champagne Lallier reaches its full potential, remember these key points:
- Embrace the darkness: store your bottles in a dark environment, away from direct light.
- Maintain a consistent and cool temperature: ideally, aim for a temperature between 55°F and 73°F (13–23°C), avoiding extremes and fluctuations that can damage the wine.
- Preserve humidity: a relatively humid environment (around 60–80%) helps keep the cork moist, maintaining a tight seal and protecting the Champagne from oxidation.
- Avoid disturbances: minimize vibrations and movement, as they can accelerate the aging process. And keep bottles away from strong odors too, including strongly scented food and produce. These kinds of disturbances are common in the kitchen, as well as temperature fluctuations, so it’s best to store Champagne elsewhere if possible.
As our global brand ambassador, Sarah Durand, explains, “Proper cellaring is key to preserving the aromatic profile and effervescence of your Champagne Lallier wines.”
Remember, aging is a personal journey. While some prefer the vibrant freshness of a young Champagne, others relish the complex nuances that develop with time. Many refined Champagnes, such as Millésimé 20214 and Ouvrage can be enjoyed upon release, having already aged to delicious complexity and depth, or they can be kept to develop further over time.
Explore the world of Champagne aging and discover the uniqueness of each stage.
