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Published on: April 17, 2018
Evaporation of droplets in a Champagne wine aerosol
Elisabeth Ghabache1, Gérard Liger-Belair2, Arnaud Antkowiak1
1Université Pierre et Marie Curie and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7190, Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, 4 Place Jussieu, F-75005 Paris, France.
Abstract:
In a single glass of champagne about a million bubbles nucleate on the wall and rise towards the surface. When these bubbles reach the surface and rupture, they project a multitude of tiny droplets in the form of a particular aerosol holding a concentrate of wine aromas. Based on the model experiment of a single bubble bursting in idealized champagnes, the key features of the champagne aerosol are identified. In particular, we show that film drops, critical in sea spray for example, are here nonexistent. We then demonstrate that compared to a still wine, champagne fizz drastically enhances the transfer of liquid into the atmosphere. There, conditions on bubble radius and wine viscosity that optimize aerosol evaporation are provided. These results pave the way towards the fine tuning of flavor release during sparkling wine tasting, a major issue for the sparkling wine industry.
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