Highlights
- Reseal sparkling wine as soon as you have poured what you need.
- Use a stopper made specifically for sparkling wine.
- Refrigerate the sealed bottle and keep it stable.
- Avoid shaking, warming and repeatedly opening the bottle.
- The spoon-in-the-neck trick is not a reliable way to preserve fizz.
- A stopper slows the loss of bubbles; it cannot restore fizz already lost.
- Drink the wine as soon as practical, because no opened bottle stays at its best indefinitely.
Quick answer
The best way to keep sparkling wine fizzy is to put a purpose-made sparkling-wine stopper on the bottle promptly, then keep it cold in the refrigerator. Handle it gently, avoid unnecessary warming and try to drink it soon.
Sparkling wine contains carbon dioxide dissolved under pressure. Opening the bottle releases that pressure, so carbon dioxide gradually escapes into the air. Cold conditions generally help the wine hold on to more of its dissolved gas, while time, warmth, movement and an open bottle encourage fizz loss.
There is no guaranteed number of hours or days that every bottle will remain lively. The wine, how full the bottle is, the stopper, refrigerator temperature and handling all make a difference.
The best method, step by step
1. Pour what you need and reseal the bottle
Once you have served the wine, fit the stopper straight away. Leaving the bottle open gives the carbon dioxide an easy route out.
Choose a stopper designed for sparkling wine. It should grip the bottle securely and be suitable for use with a pressurised glass bottle. A standard still-wine stopper is not automatically appropriate, and you should never force, pierce or modify a closure.
2. Keep it cold
Place the securely stoppered bottle in an ordinary household refrigerator. Cold wine generally retains carbon dioxide more readily than warm wine.
For serving, Comité Champagne gives approximately 8–10°C as an orientation for Champagne. That is useful context, not a universal rule for every sparkling style or a promise about how long the wine will last.
Keep the bottle away from heat and direct sunlight. Avoid taking it in and out of the refrigerator repeatedly.
3. Keep it stable
Avoid shaking, sloshing or repeatedly opening the bottle. Gentle handling helps limit unnecessary gas release and reduces the chance of spills.
Once the bottle is properly stoppered, its position is less important than its seal and temperature. Official Champagne guidance says an opened, stoppered bottle may be stored upright or lying down in this context. You do not need to treat upright storage as an absolute rule.
4. Drink it soon
A stopper slows the loss of carbonation; it does not recreate the original unopened seal or put bubbles back into the wine. Use the bottle as soon as practical rather than planning on indefinite storage.
A broad estimate of one to two days is sometimes given as practical guidance, but it is not a guarantee for every bottle. Check the wine before serving: fewer bubbles, a flatter palate, muted freshness or signs of oxidation may mean it is no longer enjoyable to drink.
Does the spoon trick work?
Probably not in any dependable, evidence-backed way. The Comité Champagne describes suspending a spoon in the bottle neck as a legend and recommends a specialised sparkling-wine stopper instead.
The spoon may be a familiar household tradition, but it should not replace a proper closure.
Sparkling wine safety
A sparkling-wine bottle is a pressurised glass container. When opening one, keep the bottle under control, point it away from people and use two hands where practical. Avoid heat and agitation, and never try to force or alter a closure.
After opening, fit the stopper carefully without pressing or modifying it. Keep the bottle stable in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
Should an opened sparkling-wine bottle be stored upright?
Not necessarily. For an opened bottle with a suitable sparkling-wine stopper, official guidance says upright or horizontal storage is acceptable. Keeping it cold and securely sealed matters more.
Can refrigeration restore lost fizz?
No. Refrigeration can help slow further carbonation loss, but it cannot put carbon dioxide that has already escaped back into the wine.
Is sparkling wine still good if it has gone flat?
It may still be drinkable, but it will no longer have the lively texture expected of sparkling wine. Taste and smell it before deciding whether to drink it, use it in cooking or discard it according to ordinary food-and-drink judgement.
Is this the same as storing opened still wine?
The broad principles overlap, but sparkling wine has an extra concern: retaining dissolved carbon dioxide. That is why a secure sparkling-wine stopper and cold storage are especially important here.
For more background, see What is sparkling wine.