Is using rinse aid bad for sparkling wine

A tip: if you can, wash your beautiful wine glasses by hand. I know, the dishwasher is a great invention for loosening up housework. But since the tablets normally contain both soap and rinse aid, it's not good. Yes, because the rinse aid leaves a wax film that, while on the one hand offers your glasses greater brightness, does not allow bubbles to form in sparkling wine.

Washing wine glasses by hand: motivations

It may seem strange but the fountains in a glass, be it a flute or a tulip, always start from continuous solutions in the mass of the wine that are determined by small whips that settle on the bottom of the glass. They are the starters of the bubbles. If they are missing due to a veil of rinse aid, sometimes a choppy wine may seem firm or degassed because it does not produce bubbles.

The advice is therefore to wash the glasses with warm water and a little soap, by hand. Then let it dry or dry with a cloth. If you really can't do it without a dishwasher, always remember, before putting the glasses on the table, to wipe them all with a cotton cloth so that any wax veil is removed and perhaps small fragments remain useful for starting the fountains.

Fabio De Vecchi