On any festive table should always be a bottle of champagne of excellent quality. From time immemorial, this drink symbolized joy, happiness, fun and chic mood of guests.
And we owe all this to Monsieur Perignon.
By the way, only 3 grape varieties are used for the production of champagne: white "chardonnay" and red "pinot noir" and "pinot merier". The mysterious process of quickly separating grape juice from pulp allows the juice of red grapes to become white wine (the juice does not have time to incorporate the properties of the skin, which gives a red tint).
Each bottle of champagne necessarily contains a “deterrent” in the form of a wire mesh - a mousle, which was invented in 1844 to prevent explosions of wine vessels in cellars.
Impeccably and quietly
A clumsily open bottle of a luxurious drink is a bad manners. Spilling half of the contents, and in the worst case, the black eye of a neighbor, spoiled mood, and now - this is no longer a festive evening. In order not to scowl and not to remove the broken glass behind you, in no case shake a bottle of champagne before opening it.
Ideally, when opening the champagne a soft cotton should sound, or “sigh” or “whisper”, which indicates the high quality of the drink. Before you open a bottle of champagne, read how to properly prepare and cool it.
Bottle preparation
The temperature of a bottle of champagne before serving to the table should be no more than 4-8 ºC.
It is convenient to use a cooler (a bucket of water and ice): a bottle immersed in it can be cooled in half an hour. Salt the ice inside - and you will reduce the cooling time; if there is no water in the cooler, but only ice, the process of acquiring the bottle with the desired temperature will take much longer.
For 6 hours, the champagne will cool to the desired condition in the refrigerator.
Soft cotton opening
- You are on a date and trying to make a good impression. Cool the drink to a temperature of +6 ... + 8 ºC. Maybe you just have a holiday at home. Open the champagne correctly.
- When opening the bottle, note that it must be tilted at an angle of 45º. After removing the wire, press the cork with your finger, remove the foil, do not turn the cork, rotate the bottle. You are on the right track.
- Is the cork under control? Excellent. There comes a time when she "wants" to "go through" to the exit on her own. Gently tilt the bottle - let the gas come out. Do you hear a gentle whisper? It starts a dialogue with you! Open neatly with a nice soft cotton.
- Pour divine nectar into chilled glasses, holding them at an angle so that excess foam does not stop you from pouring wine.
Use a towel or napkin
Did you get to point 2 of the previous list? Excellent! Notice that the chilled bottle of champagne was condensed? Cover it with a napkin or towel so that the vessel does not slip out of your hands and it would be easier for you to control the movement of the cork. Wrap the neck, turn the bottle.
When the cork leaves the neck, you will not miss it due to the towel.
Plastic cork
Please note that if you come across such a bottle, unfortunately, this is not real champagne.
How to open a bottle of champagne with a plastic stopper? Gently unscrew the cork, but do not be afraid, as it moves quietly, because gas presses on it from the inside. Do not miss the moment when it leaves the neck of the whole, tilt the bottle a little so that the carbon dioxide comes out.
Wooden cork - a filter through which wine "lives" and develops
Real wines are sealed only with wooden corks. High pressure is not created inside such a bottle; it is easy to uncork without cotton.
How much champagne is kept closed
If we talk about the shelf life of champagne in a bottle, then information about it is provided by each manufacturer individually. Usually it is not spelled out in standards. Under the guarantee, safe storage of a closed bottle is provided for two years.
Subject to storage conditions, real fine wine in a cold cellar does not lose its taste and sparkling from 10 to 25 years. Regardless of whether it is a small or a large bottle of champagne, when the wine is moved to conditions with room temperature (above the temperature of the cellar), the shelf life of the drink is reduced, and the taste worsens. This is due to the interaction of carbon dioxide with the cork: its decomposition begins, which leads to a violation of the tightness of the bottle.
Storage conditions:
- certain temperature conditions: no more than 15 degrees;
- factory packaging must not be broken;
- wine is "afraid" of bright light and especially direct sunlight;
- humidity level is important: a noble drink prefers a moist atmosphere (humidity of about 75%);
- the expiration date of champagne in a bottle will not expire ahead of time if the wine is stored in a horizontal position.
If the bottle is open at home, it can be stored for no more than a day in the refrigerator. Leaving champagne uncorked, you risk not recognizing the drink, as it will acquire an unusual taste and lose all its qualities.
It is better to buy a quality product in specialized stores where the necessary conditions for storing the drink are provided and there are guarantees that the shelf life of champagne in the bottle did not come out.
The history of champagne in Russia
In the late 1800s, the challenge to the French was thrown by Leo Golitsyn. The name “New World” was given in honor of the name of the prince’s estate, where he cultivated grapes for about ten years. Russian champagne - to be!
In 1896, the drink was served at the coronation of Nicholas II. Since then, the wine has been dubbed “Coronation.”
A bit about the "Soviet"
The first bottle of “Soviet champagne” was released in 1928. Since 1937, it entered the open mass sale.
The minimum price of a 0.75 liter bottle is 164 rubles.
There are three types of “Soviet champagne” - brut (true taste, sour, for connoisseurs), semi-dry and semi-sweet. The import of sparkling wine into our country is growing, and the production of Soviet Champagne, unfortunately, is falling (in 2016 it fell by eight percent).
What are the volumes of bottles
The standard volume of a bottle of champagne is 750 ml. The rest are rarely seen in stores, although sparkling in a 375 ml container is sold in stores and costs about 70% of the cost of a standard bottle. Three in a package offer small bottles of 200 ml.
The best price is with a standard bottle of 0.75 liters.
A large bottle of Magnum champagne (1.5 L) costs more than two standard bottles.
Other non-standard volumes can be made to order: Jeroboam (3 L), Methuselah (6 L), Salmanazar (9 L), Balthazar (12 L), Nebuchadnezzar (15 L), Solomon (18 L), Sovereign (26.25 l), Primat (27 l), Melchizedek (30 l).
Did you know?
What is common between a bottle of champagne and a London double-decker? Pressure! That in the bus tires, that in a vessel with a noble drink at room temperature there are as many as 6 atmospheres (6 kg per 1 sq. Cm).
Fifty Million Bubbles in Moet ... Can't Believe It? Almost as many of them in each bottle swarm at the walls around bumps. Have you noticed that glasses in restaurants are wiped with a cotton towel? It turns out that cellulose microparticles remain on the glass walls, and thanks to them, the bubbles get stuck on the walls. Handsomely!
Forty kilometers per hour is the speed of a slow-moving car, as well as the cork departure due to the serious pressure in the bottle. From a heated vessel, the cork flies even faster. In no case do not think that heating in the sun is the best way to quickly open a bottle of champagne. This is dangerous, since the cork departure speed in this case can reach 100 km / h.