This Is the Best Way to Save Leftover Champagne

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Being both a lightweight and a lover of sparkling wine means I often end up with a leftover half-bottle of the stuff, or I choose not to open one at all. Neither of these options feels right to me.

While I don’t mind pouring the occasional $11 flat prosecco down the drain, my partner and I just got engaged, and we've been gifted a few bottles of fancy champagne—stuff way to good to waste. The inevitable leftovers must be protected. After testing a few hacks to preserve sparkling wine’s fizz, I found one that works. 

The testing options

A friend gave me a Le Creuset champagne stopper along with a bottle of bubbly around Christmas. Weeks later I saw an Instagram post by America’s Test Kitchen on this very topic. In that video, ATK focuses on a hack for using plastic wrap if you don’t think your champagne stopper is up to the task: Simply cover the opening with plastic wrap and tie a rubber band securely around the neck to keep the plastic in place.

This option prompted me to conduct a side-by-side test—but not with my fancy champagne, no sir. Instead, I bought four cheap bottles of prosecco. (Champagne and prosecco are both sparkling white wines; they’re just produced in different regions. this test will apply to all sparkling wine, including reds.) 

I poured a serving of bev out of each bottle and set them up with different preservation options:

• One bottle was fitted with an intentionally designed champagne stopper.

• Another was fixed with the plastic wrap and rubber band rig.

• The third got plugged with an old wine cork and draped with a tea towel for safety (just in case a pressure buildup caused to to go shooting off).

• The fourth bottle was left open as a control. 

The sparkling results

Twenty-four hours later, I poured out another glass from each bottle. Before even tasting the wine, I noticed two things: The specifically constructed champagne stopper was the only one that released from the bottle with a powerful POP! of air, almost like it was being unbottled for the first time. I also noted that each glass looked nearly identical, producing visible bubbles and a bit of foam when poured. This told me that tasting would be the best indicator of how well each of these methods preserves fizz. 

Despite appearances, only the one on the far right was bubbly on the palate. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

While each sip did reveal some fizzy sensations, the only one that felt like a freshly opened bottle was the sample that used a specifically designed champagne stopper—i.e. the one that popped. That sip of that wine offered both an initial visual presence of bubbles and the quintessential delayed foaming that you expect from champagne. (That foaming sensation is what sets a fresh bottle apart from a flat bottle.) I actually tested this one again after another 24 hours and it popped again, and still aced the taste test.

Another surprising result: The other three samples were about the same, meaning the the completely unstoppered control bottle had the same mouth-feel as the other two (the old-cork stoppered one, and the one sealed with plastic wrap). This suggests to me that the bottle’s thin neck shape alone does the most work in preserving bubbles, and it's not worth bothering with jamming the old cork in there, let alone fussing with plastic wrap. 

A champagne stopper is worth it

If you’re a fan of prosecco, lambrusco, pét-nat, or a classic champagne toast, my experiment proves it’s worth it to have a proper champagne stopper in your kitchen. This type of stopper has a silicone rubber seal and a strong hinging mechanism to ensure it forms an air-tight that stays that way.

Using one of these should help you extend the life of any sparkling wine for weeks, which should be enough time to polish it off.

Le Creuset Champagne Crown Sealer, 2.25", Black Nickel

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There are cheaper options, but even if you opt for a higher-priced brand like the Le Creuset one I tested, after only a few uses you’ll end up saving well more than that in un-wasted bubbles. Whether it's Valentine’s Day, an engagement, or a fresh start, the reasons to celebrate with a bottle of sparkling wine are myriad. It pays to be prepared. Bring on the bubbles.

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