Whether you’re a casual wine drinker or a connoisseur, you must know how to store sparkling wine properly to retain its freshness and fizzy texture.
Sparkling wine is infused with carbon dioxide gas to create tiny, refreshing bubbles.
When you release this gas by uncorking a bottle of sparkling wine, it results in the foamy, fizzy action of sparkling wine.
This unique quality of sparkling wine is one of its most endearing qualities, but it also makes it prone to spoilage if not stored properly.
Learn how to store sparkling wine to keep it fresh for as long as possible.
How To Store Sparkling Wine
Unlike all other wines, sparkling wine should be stored upright to keep the liquid off of the cork.
A saturated cork could affect the bottle pressure, resulting in an overly-carbonated bottle of sparkly.
Store bottles of sparkling wine with labels clearly visible from the front to avoid jostling them around when choosing which bottle to uncork.
Frequent turning and bumping could alter the flavor and aroma.
Recork the bottle after opening to enjoy sparkling wine for about 3 days after opening.
Read More: Is Lamarca Prosecco Vegan? Finding vegan wines can be a struggle, but we did the work for you! Here’s the answer plus vegan wine recommendations.
Long-Term Storage for Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wine can be stored in your basement for about 3 years.
Champagne, a type of sparkling wine, can be stored for up to 10 years. Like all wine, it must be kept in the dark to avoid spoilage.
If you don’t have a cool basement where you can store wine in a wine rack at about 55 degrees for the long term, you’ll need to invest in a wine fridge.
Built-in wine coolers are perfect for sparkling wine because they are more sturdy and stationary than stand-alone or portable wine coolers.
Remember that your sparkling wine should be stored upright, so make sure the model you choose has enough room for bottles of sparkly.
Quick Breakdown of Sparkling Wine Varieties
Champagne
Champagne is technically a sparkling wine and is the king of them all. It must be made in the Champagne region of northern France.
This type of sparkling wine can contain up to 7 bubbles per second.
Champagne also comes in non-vintage, vintage, and prestige selections and accounts for nearly 70 percent of total market sales.
Read More: Wine vs Champagne. Learn the differences between these two beverages in our complete guide!
Rosé
The rosé is a type of sparkling wine that is red but is made from the same grapes used to make the pink Champagne. The grape skins are removed making for a light pink wine.
Prosecco
Prosecco is the Italian name for the sparkling wine that is produced in the regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in northeastern Italy.
This type of sparkling wine can contain up to 120 bubbles per second.
Spumante/Moscato
Spumante is a type of Bohemian-style sparkling wine.
It is the generic term used in the US when specifying a sparkling wine category made of the grape varieties Primitivo, Malvasia, Terretana, and Brachetto.
Read our related article, Frizzante vs Spumante where we compare these two popular sparkling wines!
Which Wine Glasses Should I Use for Sparkling Wines?
Any narrower wine glass can be used to serve sparkling wine.
The ideal glass is a champagne flute which has a taller, narrower shape that develops the bubbles and keeps aromas inside the glass.
Standard champagne flutes are about 7 ounces, tall, and narrow with a small mouth.
You don’t have to use champagne flutes if you don’t have any, but choose your narrowest wine glasses for serving.
Final Thoughts
Sparkling wine should be stored upright to keep the bubbles inside the wine, but other than that, storage is the same as other wines.
The key is to keep from jostling the bottle which can change the bubble content, flavor, and aroma of sparkling wine.
Be as gentle as you can with your sparkling wines to enjoy the flavor as it’s meant to be.