Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Uncorked: The Science of Champagne - Revised Edition
    Uncorked: The Science of Champagne - Revised Edition
    Uncorked: The Science of Champagne - Revised Edition
    Ebook156 pages1 hour

    Uncorked: The Science of Champagne - Revised Edition

    By Gérard Liger-Belair and Hervé This

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The spectacular science behind champagne's effervescence

    Uncorked quenches our curiosity about the inner workings of one of the world's most prized beverages. Esteemed for its freshness, vitality, and sensuality, champagne is a wine of great complexity. Mysteries aplenty gush forth with the popping of that cork. Just what is that fizz? Can you judge champagne quality by how big the bubbles are, how long they last, or how they behave before they fade? And why does serving champagne in a long-stemmed flute prolong its chill and effervescence? Through lively prose and a wealth of state-of-the-art photos, this revised edition of Uncorked unlocks the door to what champagne is all about.

    Providing an unprecedented close-up view of the beauty in the bubbles, Gérard Liger-Belair presents images that look surprisingly like lovely flowers, geometric patterns, even galaxies as the bubbles rise through the glass and burst forth on the surface. He illustrates how bubbles form not on the glass itself but are "born" out of debris stuck on the glass wall, how they rise, and how they pop. Offering a colorful history of champagne, Liger-Belair tells us how it is made and he asks if global warming could spell champagne's demise. In a brand-new afterword, he updates the reader on new developments in the world of bubble science and delves even more deeply into the processes that give champagne its unique and beautiful character.

    Bubbly may tickle the nose, but Uncorked tackles what the nose and the naked eye cannot—the spectacular science that gives champagne its charm and champagne drinkers immeasurable pleasure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateJun 2, 2013
    ISBN9781400847808
    Uncorked: The Science of Champagne - Revised Edition

    Related to Uncorked

    Related ebooks

    Beverages For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Down In The Dirt

      Feb 2, 2021

      Down In The Dirt
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Future of Wine

      Mar 1, 2014

      The Future of Wine
      2 min read

    • Article

      Burgundy's Existential Challenge

      Mar 15, 2022

      Burgundy's Existential Challenge
      6 min read

    • Article

      Albariño versus Alvarinho

      Aug 4, 2021

      Albariño is a seasoned traveller. Recently licensed in Bordeaux, you’ll also find it in Uruguay, New Zealand, California and southern France. Yet nowhere does it better than the northwest of the Iberian peninsula, where it’s an ancient variety. For t

      9 min read

    • Article

      Bordeaux Is La Place

      Jan 1, 2022

      BORDEAUX’S unique trading system, called ‘la place’, is becoming something of a magnet for non-Bordeaux high profile producers wanting to tap into the global sales and distribution network that la place offers. You’d be forgiven for thinking that la

      4 min read

    • Article

      Trend Watch: Under-the-radar Wine Regions

      Feb 2, 2022

      Wine lovers are increasingly turning to lesser-known regions as drinking habits diversify. Trade experts cite price rises in bottles from classic regions as the driving factor. ‘Consumers have been forced to be more creative and as a result, you’ve s

      1 min read

    • Article

      The mighty Montrachets

      Sep 1, 2021

      The mighty Montrachets
      10 min read

    • Article

      Vermentino

      May 5, 2021

      Vermentino
      5 min read

    • Article

      Alentejo: 10 Names To Know

      Apr 7, 2021

      Located in the hot, arid Granja-Amareleja sub-region, gutsy reds are the stock-in trade of this 1950s co-op. Increasingly valued for its drought resistance, local grape Moreto thrives here and the co-op makes an exceptionally perfumed, intense exampl

      2 min read

    • Article

      Top 20 Buys: Soave

      Jun 2, 2021

      Top 20 Buys: Soave
      7 min read

    • Article

      Rum’s Renaissance

      Aug 14, 2018

      Rum’s Renaissance
      3 min read

    • Article

      Transforming Tempranillo

      Feb 5, 2020

      Transforming Tempranillo
      7 min read

    • Article

      Discovering Georgia

      Mar 3, 2021

      Discovering Georgia
      5 min read

    • Article

      Brilliant Barbera

      Jun 2, 2021

      Brilliant Barbera
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hooray For Chardonnay

      Mar 3, 2020

      Hooray For Chardonnay
      9 min read

    • Article

      Pairology: Arugula Awakening

      Apr 11, 2022

      Pairology: Arugula Awakening
      1 min read

    • Article

      In Brief

      Nov 3, 2021

      In Brief
      2 min read

    • Article

      What Makes a Wine Age Worthy?

      Oct 31, 2023

      What Makes a Wine Age Worthy?
      2 min read

    • Article

      Syrah Vs Shiraz: 30 Great Buys From South Africa

      Oct 7, 2020

      Consider how frustrating it must be as a winemaker to have the terroir to produce light, fresh, fragrant Syrah but being forced to call it Shiraz on the label. Sure, it’s the same grape, but the stylistic difference it implies is immense. Andre Van R

      9 min read

    • Article

      Alentejo: The Facts

      Apr 7, 2021

      Alentejo: The Facts
      1 min read

    • Article

      Pairology: Think Fig

      Jul 20, 2021

      Pairology: Think Fig
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Canary Islands

      Feb 1, 2023

      The Canary Islands
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Uncorked

    4.5/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Uncorked - Gérard Liger-Belair

      UNCORKED

      UNCORKED

      The Science of Champagne

      REVISED EDITION

      GÉRARD LIGER-BELAIR

      With a new foreword by Hervé This and a new afterword by the author

      Princeton & Oxford

      Copyright © 2004 by Princeton University Press

      Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

      In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 0X20 1TW

      press.princeton.edu

      All Rights Reserved

      First printing, 2004

      Second printing, 2013, with a new foreword by Hervé This and a new afterword by the author.

      ISBN 978-0-691-158723

      Library of Congress Control Number 2013933622

      THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE FIRST EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS:

      Liger-Belair, Gérard, 1970–

      Uncorked : the science of champagne / Gérard Liger-Belair.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 0-691-11919-8 (cloth : acid-free paper)

      1. Champagne (Wine). I. Title.

      TP555.L54 2004

      641.2′224—dc22        2004044604

      British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

      This book has been composed in Perpetua and Centaur

      Printed on acid-free paper ∞

      pup.princeton.edu

      Printed in the United States of America

      1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

      To my father, Jacques

      CONTENTS

      Foreword    ix

      ○ Introduction 1

      ○○ The History of Champagne    7

      ○○○ The Making of Champagne    19

      ○○○○ A Flute or a Goblet?    31

      ○○○○○ The Birth of a Bubble    37

      ○○○○○○ The Bubble Rises    59

      ○○○○○○○ The Bubble Bursts    85

      ○○○○○○○○ The Future of Champagne Wines    133

      Afterword    143

      Glossary    183

      Bibliography    185

      Acknowledgments    188

      Index    189

      FOREWORD

      The Philosophy in a Bottle of Wine

      A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world, said the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur, whose father was a winemaker in the Jura, that wonderful place where the famous vin jaune (yellow wine) is made. But, by philosophy, did Pasteur mean metaphysics or natural philosophy?

      In the days of Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and Michael Faraday, natural philosophy was the name given to what we now know as science. In the years since, natural scientists have opted to abandon the term natural philosophy, so as to distinguish their field from more theological and metaphysical pursuits. They have in addition delineated the scientific disciplines of chemistry, physics, biology, and others (thus erecting artificial barriers between these disciplines, which all share the same goal—that of lifting up a corner of the great veil—and share as well as the same method of investigation—the celebrated scientific method.) However, the truth in Pasteur’s statement remains; the simplest glass of wine is a theater of natural phenomena, and these phenomena beckon to scientists, just as Mount Everest calls to other adventurers—inviting them to climb, to explore, to discover … And when the wine is not still but sparkling, the prospect of exploring the mechanisms of this phenomenon is even more intriguing. The inner world of sparkling wine is the summit that Gérard Liger-Belair has chosen to climb in his research—and in this book.

      Molecular Gastronomy: From Soufflés to Champagne Bubbles

      Such a journey of exploration as Liger-Belair has embarked upon was not possible fifty years ago. Indeed, in 1964, the publication of an article on sauce hollandaise in the journal Nature was considered the height of eccentricity. (It probably would have won the Ig Nobel Prize, if the prize had existed then, just as a study of dipping biscuits in tea was awarded this prize more recently.) It was not until the field of Molecular and Physical Gastronomy (since shortened to Molecular Gastronomy) came into being, that people began to recognize that food could be investigated using the methods of science.

      But what exactly is food? To my mind, it is not something intangible, an idea that we can discuss in the abstract. It is what we eat and drink. A carrot in a field is not food; a grape in the vineyard is not food; raw meat is not food … But beef cooked with carrots, cassoulets, French fries, foie gras … and champagne in a glass—these are food. And they can be studied scientifically, i.e., using the scientific method. This is why it is so important to make a distinction between food ingredients, industrial food processes, culinary transformations, and the food, or dishes, that we eat and drink. Alongside the science and technology of food ingredients, and the technology of industrial food processes, we have a science and a technology of culinary transformations, and of food. This is exactly what Molecular Gastronomy is. And, although the first studies of this discipline focused on the mysteries of airy soufflés, more recent studies need to consider dishes and drinks of all kinds—including champagne and its beguiling bubbles.

      Let Us Play with Food

      The word science was stolen by the practitioners of the so-called hard sciences (chemistry, physics, and the like). At one time, books bore such titles as the science of cooking, using the term science in a broad sense to mean knowledge. Since today we need to distinguish the hard sciences from activities in pursuit of knowledge that lack a quantitative underpinning, I think we might do well to resurrect the term natural philosophy and apply it to those studies in the realm of food that are not technological; i.e., that do not have to do with improving techniques using the results of scientific investigations.

      Liger-Belair’s research on champagne bubbles, the subject of this book, is the kind of exploration that, to my mind, belongs to natural philosophy, albeit his results can be readily applied. And, their applications are intriguing … If we understand why bubbles form in champagne, how they evolve, and how they explode, we can begin to conceive of ways to control and improve upon these phenomena, so as to create even more marvelous champagnes—and other drinks as well. Champagne is a wonderful drink, of that there can be no doubt. But there are poor champagnes as well as good champagnes (and indeed some truly remarkable ones). The real world contains many champagnes. If we assume that everything on this Earth is imperfect by nature, it remains for us to see how we might make improvements. So, let us play with champagne. Let us try to make it even better, to improve its taste, scent, and other qualities …

      This leads me to the topic of note-by-note cuisine, a new culinary trend that is now here to stay. To explain: Traditionally, we cook using plant and animal tissues in order to make dishes for consumption. Note-by-note cuisine, by contrast, involves combining either chemical compounds or new products obtained by the fractionation of traditional ingredients, in order to make dishes. For example, since we know that the brioche flavor of some champagnes is due in part to sotolon (the compound more officially called 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone), a compound with a wonderful scent of vin jaune, brioche, fenugreek, curry, and nuts—couldn’t we add sotolon to champagne to enhance this desired flavor? If we want more acidity, why not add tartaric, lactic, or citric acid? And, given that we know that proteins contribute to the foam of champagne, couldn’t we add some of those also?

      Or course, champagne makers are forbidden from making such additions—unless they agree to drop the word champagne, and even the word wine, from their labels. But can’t we Gourmands play with such compounds? When we were children, we were forbidden to play with food, but isn’t playing with our food the ideal way to get the best out of it? Don’t play and experimentation lead to new ideas, exchanges of insights, and discoveries?

      A Fantastic Voyage inside Champagne

      I don’t know if Pasteur was right when he praised the qualities of a bottle of wine over philosophy; but I

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1