Size (And Sound) Matters When It Comes To Bubbles In Your Sparkling Wine

"Oenophiles have debated the most desirable characteristics of bubbles in champagne and sparkling wines for centuries, with most purists swearing that the smaller the bubble, the better the wine. But up until recently, few thought to listen to the bubbles themselves for answers."

"Scientists at the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas in Austin normally measure the sound of inflating fish bladders and bubble curtains that dampen noise from underwater drilling. This time, they decided to listen in on champagne bubbles. "It was just nerdy curiosity," says Kyle Spratt, who led the research at UT."

"'Our first inclination was to drop a hydrophone (underwater microphone) into a glass and see what sort of sounds we heard,' Spratt says."

"And, how do sparkling wine bubbles sound? With the right listening equipment, 'they ring like bells,' he says. And the more expensive bottle did indeed have smaller bubbles, he found."