Solved at last: the mystery of why champagne bubbles go straight up

Flavour molecules cause champagne bubbles to rise in straight line – unlike those in other drinks

From the pop of its cork to its delicate golden hue, champagne has many features that make it a celebratory tipple – but none are as recognisable as its fine fizz. Now researchers have shed new light on the quintessential sparkle, revealing why champagne bubbles rise in a straight line, unlike those of many other drinks.

“Our intuition, from studying bubble dynamics, is that bubbles rising in line do not follow a straight line. The wake behind each bubble knocks out the trailing bubble behind to the side,” said Prof Roberto Zeni, the co-author of the study from Brown University, Rhode Island, in the US.