Why does champagne make bubbles?
Okay, it's not just champagne that makes bubbles. Various sodas also make, as well as beers, blanquettes and ciders ... In all cases, they are bubbles of carbon dioxide. Easy to verify: Immerse a flaming match over the surface of a degassing glass and turn it off. It is no coincidence that carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguishers are used ...
In the alcoholic drinks of which Champagne is a part, this CO2 formed naturally during the transformation of sugar into alcohol (this is alcoholic fermentation) into tight containers. The wine also undergoes this fermentation, but in open tanks, the CO2 can then escape. In non-alcoholic beverages, the gas was added artificially.
That said, when I look at a closed bottle of Champagne, I do not see bubbles, they only appear when opening ... It is because the carbon dioxide is soluble in the water of the beverage. Closed bottle, the pressure is 6 times the atmospheric pressure, the gas is forced to remain dissolved there (supersaturation). As soon as the bottle is opened, the pressure decreases, the gas can escape from the liquid, in the form of bubbles, and does not deprive itself of it elsewhere ...
But let's take a closer look at the bubbles in the glass. Do they appear anywhere in the liquid volume? Hardly ever. It is usually on the walls that they form. When a bubble is born, it is at first tiny (ben yes ...), but it takes a lot of energy to make a microbubble appear. It is therefore necessary to have a micro-bubble of air trapped on an impurity adhered to the wall of the glass, such as a tiny cellulose fiber coming, for example, from the wiping cloth of the glass. This is shown in the photo, resulting from the work of G. Liger-Belair of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne.
Once the microbubble is formed, the dissolved gas in the vicinity can migrate there and cause the bubble to grow. When it has a certain volume, it detaches and is carried away by the push of Archimedes towards the surface. Along the way, it continues to grow by trapping the gas encountered.
A bubble of Champagne has just burst on the surface of the liquid. Her neighbors stretch brutally towards the place she occupied ... All these bubbles make me everything.
History of the champagne capsule
Before the end of the 17th century, the champagne was clogged with a piece of wood wrapped in linen, hemp tightly sealed by the sealing wax. Then, until the beginning of the 19th century, the wine merchants manually closed the bottles with a cork stopper whose diameter was twice as large as that of the neck of the bottle. They began tapping with a bat ... From 1827 on, appeared on the market of butchering machines in Champagne, but it was not until the middle of the century that these machines were really effective. To keep the cork in place, during the fermentation, it was tied with a string of two-strand hemp; This operation will be done by hand until the middle of the century. But this one gradually moulded ... and the cork ended by jumping and farewell divine mousse. Wire was therefore added to consolidate the first tying.
It was in 1844 that Adolphe Jacquesson deposited a patent for the invention of metal capsule and the muselet, two major innovations in the world of champagne.
This merchant from Chalons (sur Marne) thus solved the serious problem of loss of wine due to bad weather, the porosity of the plugs or the rotting of the twine.
He therefore had the idea of using tinplate, frosted, laminated, and cutting out the same diameter of the plugs ("the flanks") and replacing the usual twine with wire.
However, it was not until about 1881 to see the first metal caps on the plugs now protected, held by wire wires attached to the neck of the bottle.
Formerly, most champagne capsules had four notches or cuts (only three for the Moët and Chandon, which characterize them) and this until the year 60.
Some, manufactured in Bordeaux between 1900 and 1930, were also equipped with tongues (Pol Roger, Monopole). Still others were provided with a square hole in the middle (Giesler) to allow the cork to breathe.
The vast majority of the capsules are made of tinplate, some more sought after are made of copper or aluminum; Steel being during the Great War intended for less peaceful uses.
At the beginning of their use, these capsules all had an almost identical appearance and covered the stoppers without distinction of brand or provenance .......
At the end of the 19th century, it was the idea to stamp the word "Champagne" which appeared in relief, often accompanied by a star. Then also paint them in different colors.
Little by little, the manufacturers realize that they can take advantage of this small metal space to indicate their name, that of their locality, etc. Initially in tinplate, its decoration will arrive only at the beginning of the century, in relief at first, specifying the name of the owner, sometimes the mark. Then later, the color and the drawings (coats of arms, castles, etc.) will appear that have evolved greatly over time. As for the vintage, it made its appearance in 1906 at the initiative of POL ROGER.
At first, only the major brands are concerned by this phenomenon. The technique allowed its customized application only to the few houses that had the means. After World War II, techniques evolve and allow an affordable cost price. But it was not until 1960 that the so-called "harvesters-manipulators" were sensitized to this problem of the brand.
Today, the evolution of printing techniques, especially pad printing, has enabled the major brands and winegrowers to obtain capsules of beauty, some are really small works of art.
There are two different manufacturing techniques. The screen printing on the one hand, which allows a good color fastness, a high precision of the lines and the colors resistant to the wear of the time and the scratches. On the other hand, pad printing, which allows printing of the colors only one after the other, requires delicate drying and setting operations. This technique, more artisanal, is more often used for small productions.
Champagnes et truffes noires
Truffle, Champagne H. BLIN & C °? The simple evocation of these two "stars" of the table brings forth images of celebration, luxury and voluptuousness?
Truffe and H. BLIN & C °, an exceptional wedding to celebrate during a privileged moment. And why not imagine a one-on-one dinner around the winter black truffle and a harmoniously selected Champagne? Let yourself be guided?
The black winter truffle (Tuber melanosporum) a heady nugget
In the nose, its perfume, imposing at first, reveals its complexity in a second time: powerful, subtle, both "fresh" and "hot", with an extraordinary aromatic persistence.
Its olfactory references evoke both the vegetable kingdom (fresh grass, cut or dried grass, moist tobacco, decaying oak leaves, roots, humus, wet soil, potting soil, trumpet-type dried mushrooms) A fox fur, slightly smoked sausage, musk) or, in another, a sweet note of yellow-ripe fruit.
His best deals with Champagne
The Champagnes are rich, structured, even tannic, powerful and vinous, tempered temperament. Champagnes de Corps, Blanc de noirs (based on pinot noir and / or pinot meunier), in the fierceness of their youth, or Champagnes d'Ame vintage, complex and mature, mostly black grape varieties.
Recipe with black truffles
An easy menu for a glamorous evening?
In appetizers?
A few slices of fresh truffle on slices of a good buttered stick. Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel from Guérande.
Scallops and black truffles
6 scallops. 6 slides of black truffle 1 mm thick. Some leaves of mesclun. Sweet olive oil. Salt. Pepper.
Sear the scallops in olive oil 1 minute on each side, without letting them color. Cut them horizontally to 3/4 and slip a slice of truffle. Serve immediately, accompanied by a few leaves of mesclun, sprinkled with a fillet of olive oil. Add salt. Pepper.
Little truffle potato slippers by Guy Savoy
60 g of whole truffles, 600 g of potatoes, 60 g of leeks, 1/2 small onion, 125 g of butter, salt and freshly ground pepper.
Peel the potatoes, leeks, onions and wash them. Cut the mandolin potatoes into strips 3 mm thick. Wash them to remove the starch and leave them in the water. Put 75 g of clarifying butter in a pan over a very gentle heat. Thinly slice the onions and leeks, cook them with 15 g butter over low heat until done.
Drain the potatoes, wipe them well. Mix them in a basin with 3/4 of the clarified butter. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Arrange the potato slides overlapping them in the pre-buttered roasting pan. Bake them (th.6) for about 1/4 hour.
Cut the truffle into very thin strips. Once cooked, spread the potato slices on a table (6 per person). Place a little leek-onion mixture on each slice, then a slice of truffle. Cover with a slice of potatoes.
Cut out these small slippers with the cookie cutter in order to obtain a regular shape, arrange them in a buttered dish, brush them with clarified butter with a brush, make them to color under a salamander or very hot . Once colored, arrange them in each plate.
And to finish .....
Sugar shells and black truffle
Butter 30g, Sugar semolina 40g, Shells 100g, Cream liquid 15cl, Truffle of 30grs per person.
Cook the shells in the boiling water "al dente". Drain. Book. Reduce the cream by half. Parry the truffles and cut into julienne. When serving, fry the shells with the butter, the sugar, add the reduced cream and the julienne of truffles. Serve ...