How to Open a Bottle of Sparkling Wine

2 of 9 in Series: The Essentials of Serving and Storing Wine

Opening a bottle of sparkling wine or Champagne is usually an exciting occasion. But the method of opening a bottle of sparkling wine or Champagne is a completely different technique than you’d use to open a regular wine bottle. The cork even looks different. Sparkling wine corks have a mushroom-shaped head that protrudes from the bottle and a wire cage that holds the cork in place against the pressure that’s trapped inside the bottle.

Never, ever use a corkscrew on a bottle of sparkling wine. The pressure of the trapped carbonation, when suddenly released, can send the cork and corkscrew flying right into your eye.

Let the bottle rest for a day

If your bottle of bubbly has just traveled, let it rest for a while, preferably a day. Controlling the cork is difficult when the carbonation has been stirred up. You wouldn’t open a large bottle of soda that’s warm and shaken up, either, would you? Sparkling wine has much more carbonated pressure than soda, and needs more time to settle down.

If you’re in the midst of a sparkling wine emergency and need to open the bottle anyway, one quick solution is to calm down the carbonation by submerging the bottle in an ice bucket for about 30 minutes. (Fill the bucket with one-half ice cubes and one-half ice-cold water.)

In any case, be careful when you remove the wire cage, and keep one hand on top of the cork as a precaution. Be sure to point the bottle away from people and other fragile objects.

Remove the cork gently

If you like to hear the cork pop, just yank it out. When you do that, however, you’ll lose some of the precious wine, which will froth out of the bottle. Also, the noise can interfere with your guests’ conversation.

Removing the cork from sparkling wine with just a gentle sigh rather than a loud pop is fairly easy. Follow these steps:

Hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle.

Wrap a towel around the bottle if it’s wet. You can try resting the base of the bottle on your hipbone. Remember to point the bottle away from people and fragile objects.
Twist the bottle while holding on to the cork.

This enables you to control the cork as it emerges.
When you feel the cork starting to come out of the bottle, push down against the cork with some pressure, as if you don’t want to let it out of the bottle.

In this way, the cork will emerge slowly with a hiss or sigh sound rather than a pop.

Every once in a while, you’ll come across a really tight sparkling wine cork that doesn’t want to budge. Try running the top of the bottle under warm water for a few moments, or wrapping a towel around the cork to create friction. Either action will usually enable you to remove the cork.

Another option is to purchase a fancy gadget that you place around the part of the cork that’s outside the bottle. There are actually three gadgets: Champagne pliers, a Champagne star, and a Champagne key.