How to Open Champagne and Serve It Properly: A Beginner’s Guide

In the U.S. Champagne and sparkling wines are often reserved for special occasions; a guide to opening and serving Champagne can help novice wine-servers.

Although Champagne has been popular in America since the 1820s, it has never been fully accepted as an ordinary everyday wine. Instead, it is associated with the milestone achievements of a lifetime: weddings, graduations, the birth of a child. Thus experts from EssayWriter point at the fact that there usually remains a certain awkward unfamiliarity between the server and the celebratory wine; even those who discourse knowledgeably about still wine sometimes get a bit nervous when asked to open and pour a bottle of bubbly, as though the presence of carbon dioxide somehow transforms a dear old friend into an intimidating foe. This belief is false: Absolutely anyone can learn to open and serve Champagne and sparkling wine like a pro.

How to Open a Bottle of Champagne
Champagnes and sparkling wines undergo a secondary fermentation process that creates millions of bubbles. An indentation on the bottom of the bottle is called a ‘punt’ which acts as a spot to place your thumb while the rest of your fingers grab the base of the bottle. It always pays to be careful when opening a bottle of Champagne; a flying cork can injure onlookers or put a nice deep dent in a ceiling or wall. Follow these steps to ensure safe partying:

• Make sure the wine is cold; place it in an ice bucket containing ½ ice and ½ water at least a half-hour before opening. The colder the wine, the less likely it is to spurt out all over the place.
• Carefully remove the foil and wire cage around the cork. Keep the thumb of your stronger hand firmly placed on the top of the cork, just to be on the safe side.
• Point the bottle away from people and objects; it is helpful to place a towel over the cork the first few times you do this.
• Still holding the cork with the stronger hand, place the weaker hand on the bottom of the bottle with the thumb in the indentation.
• Slowly turn the bottom of the bottle with the weaker hand. The cork should gradually slide out with a hissing noise, instead of that loud ‘pop’ that can send it flying across the room. Keep the thumb of the stronger hand in place on top of the cork the entire time, controlling its rise as it eases out of the bottle’s neck.

This method is not only safer and easier than simply trying to yank out the cork, but it also saves expensive wine from wasteful spillage.

How to Pour Champagne
The traditional method of pouring Champagne properly is to slowly fill a glass about 1/3 of the way (that is, about an inch of liquid). After the fizz or ‘mousse’ settles completely, pour another 1/3; then repeat this step, filling the glass directly below the rim. Alternatively, the wine may be poured in two steps, filling the glass halfway and then after the mousse dissipates. The old guides always advised against tilting the glass while filling; “you aren’t serving lager,” The Book of Wine once sniffed.

Turns out that the ‘beer method’ of pouring enhances the quality of Champagne, causing the flavor and bouquet of the wine to perceptibly increase for the better. A recent French study showed that tilting the glass and pouring the wine just like one would pour a frothy mug of beer keeps the effervescent gas in the wine instead of forming a thick layer of foam on top. Although this study came as no surprise to a lot of bartenders, it allows consumers to happily use a method of pouring Champagne that they’re probably already familiar with.

Serving Champagne in the Right Glass
Use the narrow flute glasses or a white wine glass rather than a coupe, the shallow bowl-like containers many associates with the bubbly. The coupe has an interesting history, in that they are supposedly modeled on the shape of either Marie Antoinette’s or Madame du Barry’s breast; but Champagne flutes preserve the fizz, aroma, and taste much more carefully. Any leftover wine can be kept relatively fresh for a day or two by using a Champagne Saver. Enjoy!