London: The long-held belief that a glass of champagne has around 15 million bubbles is in for a refill.

A scientist has now closely examined the factors that affect these bubbles - and the new number is 1 million bubbles at best.

Effervescence plays an important role in the look, taste, aroma and mouth feel of champagne and other sparkling wines, French scientist Gerard Liger-Belair said.

Wine journalists and bloggers often cite 15 million as the average number of bubbles fizzing in a single glass of champagne, based on some simple mathematics.

But Liger-Belair suspected that the formula leading to this estimate oversimplified the matter.

It did not take into account the fact that some of the dissolved carbon dioxide escapes from a glass without forming bubbles.

Taking into consideration temperature, bubble dynamics and the tilt of a flute, Liger-Belair came up with a new way to calculate the number of bubbles in a glass of champagne.

And the result is far lower than what has been cited.

“One million bubbles seems to be a reasonable approximation for the whole number of bubbles likely to form if you resist drinking champagne from your flute,” he explained.

He also found that if you prefer more fizz in your bubbly, serve it warmer than you normally would and be sure to tilt the flute when pouring.

The report appeared in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B.