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For Champagne Bubbles, Smaller Is Better
Roland Piquepaille writes "During this holiday season you don't need a special occasion to drink champagne. You can do it everyday, providing you use moderation and common sense. But did you know that champagne taste better when it has tiny bubbles? This is the result of a very serious study published by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and more recently found by the Discovery Channel. And why do you think champagne taste better when carrying smaller bubbles? The answer is pretty obvious. More bubbles are releasing the champagne's flavor and aroma into your mouth. This summary gives you more details. In the mean time, let's all drink champagne!"
The sediment that is produced after the sugar and yeast have made these little bubble is removed by freezing the neck of the bottle whilst it's upside down and then removing the plug of 'goo'.
That's why Champagne bottles have that large foil top - historically, it was used to cover up the fact that you were being short-changed. Now that we have standards and things, these days, they fill the gap with a similar blend before it's corked.
Who knows why they didn't do that before...