Bubbles and Flow Patterns in Champagne Is the fizz just for
show, or does it add to the taste of sparkling wines? Legend has
it that the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon discovered the
Champagne method for making sparkling wines more than 300 years
ago. As it happens, a paper presented to the Royal Society in
London described the Champagne production method in 1662, six
years before Pérignon ever set foot in a monastery. In fact,
Pérignon was first tasked with keeping bubbles out of wine, as
the effervescence was seen as vulgar at the time. But then
tastes changed and fizz became fashionable, so Pérignon’s
mandate was reversed; he went on to develop many advances in
Champagne production, including ways to increase carbonation. In
any case, the process was not regularly used in the Champagne
region of France to produce sparking wine until the 19th
century. Since that time, Champagne has remained the wine of
celebration, undoubtedly because of its bubbling behavior. But
what is the exact role of the bubbles