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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Courtney Pochin

Wine expert debunks spoon hack for prosecco - and shares trick to keep it bubbly

After a long week at work, or when celebrating a special occasion, for some there's nothing quite like popping open a bottle of bubbly and raising a glass to the weekend or to toast a success.

But if for some reason you don't finish the bottle of prosecco or champagne, how do you keep it sparkling?

Many 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 actually is 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 your tipples.

Carlos Santos has been sharing his expert advice on storing wine (Courtney Pochin/ Daily Mirror)

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.

He claims the spoon won't keep the bubbles in the wine (Alamy Stock Photo)
The CO2 will evaporate if there's no pressure on the bottle (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

And 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% 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."

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email courtney.pochin@mirror.co.uk

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