# Drinking champaign in the movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819 "2003-08-26T19:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/1 "2003-08-26T19:45:45Z")
How come (in the movies) whenever someone gets champaign brought to them in the silver ice bucket, they always pour the glasses full, then they pour a little into the bucket? Why? Why do they pour some into the ice bucket? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/2 "2003-08-26T20:08:01Z")
Can you name a movie? I have no memory of seeing this in any movie, and of the top of my head, I could probably name every movie made between 1907 and yesterday that featured Veuve Clicquot. Additionally, I’ve never had champagne brought to me in an ice bucket. They don’ t lug it out in a bucket. Please name a movie, I am now going crazy with curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/3 "2003-08-26T22:15:50Z")
[This](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2342725359&category=20690) is what I’m talking about. :smack: Off the top of my head I can’t think of the names of the movies I’ve seen this in…BUT I hAVE SEEN IT DONE IN SEVERAL. I think I saw it in at least one older James Bond movie. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/4 "2003-08-26T23:04:42Z")
I, too, am intrigued. I’ve never heard of such a practice. Makes even less sense than pouring it into a ladies’ slipper. ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/5 "2003-08-26T23:48:24Z")
Perhaps you are thinking of Miller High Life, “The Champagne of Beers”, and they are simply ‘tipping the forty for the homies that ain’t here tonight.’ ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/6 "2003-08-26T23:49:36Z")
Aha! This must be the origin of pouring some out for your homies! Who knew the ‘urban youth’ were really just ripping off hoity-toity rich folk? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/7 "2003-08-27T00:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by j.c. \* > \*\*Additionally, I’ve never had champagne brought to me in an ice bucket. \*\* You need to stay at beter hotels;) **They don’ t lug it out in a bucket.** The heck they don’t. Everytime I can remember getting bubbly sent up to a hotel room they brought it in a silver ice bucket. I think I’ve seen the “pour the champaign in the ice bucket” scene in movies. I always thought it was done before the glasses were poured. Actually, I’ve never even thought about it at all. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m wondering if i’ve ever really seen it done, or if it’s just a false memory.😕 ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/8 "2003-08-27T06:58:40Z")
**pkbites** I have never had champagne (or any other chilled wine) served to me from the bucket. The bucket has always been off to the side, like a silent butler, waiting to receive the wine after the first glasses have been poured. At tastings, it’s as if they are trying to hide that darn things (Admittedly, this is probably to keep people from swiping them and then selling them on eBay.) Maybe the waiters and sommeliers of the world are fussier with girls. And I’m still going crazy trying to think of a movie where they pour some into the ice bucket. The next time I’m at the back, it’s going to be darned hard not to tip a little grape soda into the ice chest. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/9 "2003-08-27T07:16:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > [ I always thought it was done before the glasses were poured. This suggests a method of pouring off any “floaters”. Just a WAG, but pouring a bit into the bucket both removes any “crap” one might want to pour off, and provides a suitable place to do so. Maybe said bubbly helps to melt the ice, therefore further cooling the booze. “Tip my magnum to my fallen major investors” ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/10 "2003-08-27T10:41:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dnooman \* > Maybe said bubbly helps to melt the ice, therefore further cooling the booze. Ice doesn’t have a greater cooling effect if it’s melted. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/11 "2003-08-27T11:37:14Z")
You could be onto something, **dnooman** - maybe the champagne/ice mixture has a freezing point below 0C, in the same way that an ice/salt mixture can be used to freeze stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/12 "2003-08-27T11:38:37Z")
Incidentally, does nobody know how to spell “champagne” these days? Where d’ya get “champaign” from? The vineyards of Illinois? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/13 "2003-08-27T11:59:04Z")
Maybe they’re trying to show off their urbanaty? ---
**Author:** ![Chagto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Chagto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chagto)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/14 "2003-08-27T11:59:42Z")
I’m guessing that, in view of the cooling theory, a little bit of champers tipped into the bucket would indeed help keep the bottle cooler. I base this on the fact that if the ice is still cubed, not much of it is actually touching the bottle itself, however if there is some liquid of a sort in the bucket it would help conduct heat away from the bottle and to the ice, as it would contact much more of the surface of the bottle If this theory is correct, it would not have a appeciable affect on crushed ice, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/15 "2003-08-27T12:00:31Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘tipping the forty for the homies that ain’t here tonight.’ Aw, I was going to post that. See what I get for getting in late? > [@](#): > > “Tip my magnum to my fallen major investors” Nice one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/16 "2003-08-27T12:55:56Z")
I can only recall one movie where something like this happened, the classic _Blues Brothers_. The bottle was tipped upside down and plunged back into the ice bucket after it was thoroughly drained. Kind of a signal to the wine steward that you have an empty. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/17 "2003-08-27T23:17:36Z")
Sparkling wines have no “crap,” not since the Cliquot house came up with a reliable process for riddling in the early 1800s. I am obsessed. I have made calls. Friends are pestering people. I hope to have an answer, and soon. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/18 "2003-08-27T23:24:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*Ice doesn’t have a greater cooling effect if it’s melted. \*\* This is not quite true; if you pour salt onto ice, forcing it to melt, there will be a significant uptake of heat because of the whole latent heat of melting thing. Not that I’m suggesting that Champagne causes the same effect. However, it might be true that a little liquid in the ice bucket enables better thermal contact between the ice cubes and the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/19 "2003-08-28T00:29:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\* > However, it might be true that a little liquid in the ice bucket enables better thermal contact between the ice cubes and the bottle. \*\* In my experience this is most definitely true. I usually chill my wine or champagne in a bucket of ice and some water (already chilled, from the refrigerator - wamr water from the tap wouldn’t do so well I’d imagine). It’ll chill the wine faster than a refrigerator, for certain. Conduction is more effective than convection. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819/20 "2003-08-28T00:33:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*Ice doesn’t have a greater cooling effect if it’s melted. \*\* As alluded to by **Chagto** , this isn’t correct. While the ice in the bucket is going to be at 32 degrees (unless it’s just been taken out of the freezer), the air around the ice cubes will be considerably warmer, and there will be plenty of places where that air is touching the bottle. OTOH, if there is enough of the ice melted to make an ice bath, the bottle will be cooled much more effectively. As long as there is still a significant amount of ice left, the water in an ice bath will remain at 32 degrees while the environmental heat goes to melting the remaining ice, not heating the water. Since liquids take the shape of their container, the water will flow until it completely surrounds the bottle (or at least as much of the bottle as is submerged) such that the entire surface of the bottle is touching a substance (whether liquid water or ice) that is 32 degrees. As long as the ice holds out, this will cool the bottle more efficiently than one exposed to patches of cold ice and warmer air. –Cliffy [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-champaign-in-the-movies/197819.md?page=2)