Losses of dissolved CO2 through the cork stopper during Champagne aging: toward a multiparameter modeling

Measurements of dissolved CO(2) concentrations from Champagne bottles initially holding the same CO(2) level after having been elaborated (close to 11.5 g L(-1)), but having experienced different periods of aging after having been corked with natural cork stoppers, were done. Losses of dissolved CO(2) close to 3.5 g L(-1) experienced by the oldest Champagne samples aged for about 75 months were reported. This very significant loss of dissolved CO(2) was logically interpreted as a consequence of the continuous diffusion of gaseous CO(2) through the pores of the cork stopper. By combining the diffusion principle through a porous medium with Henry's law (which links the solubility of a gas species in a liquid medium with its partial pressure in the vapor phase), a multiparameter model was built that provides the dissolved CO(2) content found in Champagne during its whole aging period. Both Champagne temperature and bottle volume were found to be key parameters with regard to the kinetics of CO(2) losses through the cork.