Michael Pronay states in part: "Thus said, for a standard (750ml) bottle
and the surrounding media being air (= fridge), this fixed time span is
40 to 45 minutes. If the surrounding media is water (= ice bucket), this
fixed time span shortens to 12 to 15 minutes, water being a much better
heat conductor than air."

Although seldom used for chilling wine anymore, a mixture of ice and
salt greatly lowers the temperature of a cooling mixture. At one time
frozen Champagne was very popular. In the first edition of The Epicurean
written by Charles Ranhofer in 1893, detailed instructions for freezing
Champagne are given. It can be done in a large pail, but a special
Champange freezer is illustrated. It resembles a hand-cranked ice cream
freezer, except it grips and turns a bottle of Champagne.

"Make a mixture of three pounds of finely pounded ice with a pound and a
half of rock salt, not too coarse: fill the pail to the top, mix well
together and turn the botte by the neck to give it a backward and
forward movement from right to left. If the Champagne be taken from the
ice box where it has been lying for several hours, then it will take
only tweve to fourteen minutes to freeze, but if it has not been
previously on ice, then it will require fifteen to eighteen minutes for
the operation. Champagne can be froozen without turning it around by
leaving it in the salted ice for half an hour before serving. Machines
are sometimes used which simplify the work greatly; the same time is
required, only the labor is less fatiguing. When finished serve in a
metal silver-plated pail with salted ice around. These are to be placed
either on the table or on a small side table."

Charles Ranhofer, the retired chef of Delmonico's in New York City, is
speaking from long experience. Delmonico's likely served many bottles of
frozen Champagne every day in the late 1800s.

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