Champagne is a favorite alcoholic drink for women. Its sweet taste, pleasant aroma, thousands of small bubbles do not leave anyone indifferent. But not everyone knows how to open champagne. But in the process there is nothing complicated. Believe me, after reading the article, you can easily uncork a bottle of sparkling drink.
Preparation before serving
Before opening champagne, a sparkling drink must be properly cooled:
- The temperature should not exceed 7 degrees. For this, the drink needs to be cooled for at least 2 hours.
- Do not put champagne in the freezer. Otherwise, the drink may freeze, its taste will change.
- If you have a special refrigerator for wine, then it is better to forget about it for a while. Putting a sparkling drink in there, you risk that the bottle will become wet from condensation. This will violate the technology of uncorking champagne.
- An ideal cooling place for a sparkling drink is a bucket of dry ice. If time is running out, guests are literally “on the doorstep”, add a couple of tablespoons of table salt, this will speed up the process.
So, the champagne has cooled, you can proceed to uncork it.
How to open a bottle of sparkling drink?
Not even a solemn event can do without Irina Allegrova's popular hit “Let's Open Champagne”. This is a kind of appeal to fill your glasses with your favorite sparkling drink.
Still not sure how to open champagne properly? Carefully read the instructions:
- Be sure to wipe the bottle dry so that there is no excess condensation on it and it does not slip in your hands.
- Take a paper towel, cover it with the bottom label.
- Do not shake the bottle at this time so that the beverage bubbles do not rise up.
- Carefully remove the excise stamp and top label.
- Holding the cork with your thumb, begin to unscrew the wire clockwise. You need to be extremely careful with the wire, if the end breaks off, you will have to use scissors or pliers to remove it from the bottle.
- After the wire is removed, deflect the neck of the bottle 45 degrees from you. Make sure that the cork is not aimed at the guests, glass, candles.
- Grab the cork with a few fingers (thumb and forefinger), begin to slowly rotate the bottle left and right. Many at this point make a huge mistake by turning the cork. Thus, you run the risk of quickly opening a bottle of sparkling wine and pouring the drink on yourself.
- If you understand that the cork comes out too quickly, prepare a cold teaspoon in advance, attach it to the neck, the process will slow down.
Now you know how to open champagne according to all the rules. Try to apply this technology and see that there is nothing complicated in it.
Special attention to the cork
The quality of the sparkling drink is evidenced not only by its value, but also by the cork with which it is closed. The aroma, taste and quality of the drink depend on such a small detail.
Champagne lovers should be aware that the technical conditions do not allow closing the drink with a plastic stopper. In this case, sparkling wine will contain a large amount of carbon dioxide, which adversely affects human health. In addition, the drink will foam very much and quickly “run out of steam”.
How to open champagne if the cork is plastic? In this case, a towel or napkin will help. Gently rotate the cork while holding it a little. Under pressure, the bottle will open quickly.
Good, elite champagne is closed only with a wooden cork. Such a drink does not create excess pressure in the bottle, so it opens without problems.
How to make a loud bang?
A little higher, we explained how to open champagne without a loud bang, neatly and correctly. But remember the chiming clock and New Year's Eve. Surely in the midst of a feast I want extravaganza and a loud "bach".
With a sparkling drink, this is very simple. After all, the pressure in the bottle is about 6 atmospheres. For comparison, in a car tire it is 3 times smaller.
Take the champagne, shake it a little and, slightly holding the cork, begin to open. Remember, during this procedure, the drink will probably pour out of the bottle, so prepare a towel in advance.
Why is it dangerous to open champagne with cotton?
Not many people like to open a bottle of cotton. And that's why:
- If the angle of inclination is incorrectly selected, then the cork can injure a person. And this is not a joke. Please note that the speed of the traffic jam is quite high - 120 km / h. Will you risk your health for a beautiful and spectacular show with a bottle?
- The taste of the drink does not become so bright. In champagne, only bubbles are felt.
- With cotton, part of the drink is poured out of the bottle. Agree, with expensive, collection champagne, this option for uncorking is definitely not suitable.
In high-level restaurants, each waiter is specially trained to open sparkling drinks. Ideally, when removing the cork, there should be a characteristic, soft cotton and light haze.
What to do if the cork breaks?
Another popular question: "How to open champagne if the cork breaks?" Believe me, this happens quite often. It can only happen if the main pressure was not placed on the bottle, but on the cork.
What to do in this case:
- If the cork is plastic, it will be enough to shake the bottle of sparkling wine, under pressure it will fly out.
- You can also use a screw or corkscrew. It is enough to screw these objects into the cork and gently pull them out using pliers. At this time, you need to hold the bottle tightly so as not to damage the glass around the neck.
- If manufacturers used wooden cork, using scissors or the same pliers, it must be crushed. Remember that the pieces will fall into the drink, so it will need to be filtered through a sieve or gauze.
The cork in a bottle of sparkling drink will never break if you know how to open champagne correctly. To do this, use the instructions that were given in the article.
Sommelier tips
Speaking of champagne, one cannot but mention the culture of drinking this drink:
- When opening a bottle of sparkling wine, think about the safety of others, follow the rules.
- Never point the neck of a bottle to your face; serious injuries may result.
- According to the rules, champagne should be opened without a loud pop.
- One bottle of drink is enough for 8 servings.
- Brut and sour types of champagne are poured into long glasses on a thin leg. But sweet varieties - in wide glasses.
- So that the drink does not foam too much, it is better to add a piece of ice to the glass.
- How to open champagne for a girl? By etiquette, ladies should not do this. It’s better to call a man to help. Even in restaurants, female waiters are not allowed to open sparkling wine bottles.
Champagne is a favorite drink of Russians. But not many people know how to open it correctly. We are sure that after reading the article you no longer have such questions. It is time to buy a bottle of sparkling wine and improve your skills.