Le Gard'Bulles

[tomstevenson]

Ever come across this clever device? The reverse of the Vacu-Vin, this pumps air into a part-filled bottle of sparkling wine, the idea being that the pressure built up will prevent CO2 escaping from the wine. Its inventor obvliously flunked physics at school because he has not taken into account the principle of partial pressures. Although the air will be pressurised, the CO2 element (less than one per cent) will not and this gas thus continues to escape from the wine. Furthermore, as oxygen represents 21 per cent of air and a minuscule percentage of the wine, this brilliant invention actually impregnates the wine with oxygen, so not only does Le Gard'Bulles not stop the fizz from fading, but it oxidises the wine at the same time. Nice one!