Champagne, according to French law can only be called so, if the sparkling wine is made from grapes grown on officially selected plots of land in France in the Champagne region of North East France.
Why is champagne called champagne?
February 16, 2009How to open a bottle of Champagne easily (and without poping your eye out!)
February 11, 2009Many people believe that Champagne, a sparkling wine made in the champagne region of France is intended to be opened just at special events and important occasions. However, we’d love you to know that the bubbly refresher complements any meal from a light breakfast to a midnight snack, plus it can be a real delight to sip chilled champagne from a champagne glass by itself especially when spending time with friends. A good bottle of champagne can make any special occasion memorable.
There’s no special skills needed to get your bottle of champagne or sparkling wine open without injuring either yourself or your guests. The only secrets are chilling the champagne before opening it and turning the bottle instead of pulling the cork when attempting to open the bottle. If you have never opened a bottle of bubbly before and you’re afraid you might knock out the windows or even worse, your eyes, don’t worry. Here is a simple lesson with a few great tips on how to do it safely:
1. Chill the bottle of champagne
Ensure the champagne bottle has been suitably chilled, it should ideally be 7 degrees Celsius, or really cold when you touch the bottle. Champagne that’s too warm will be very foamy when you open the bottle, similarly having it too cold will lose some of the delicious yeasty flavours associated with champagne.
2. Remove the wire cage
Whilst holding the bottle with one hand, untwist the wire on the wire cage with the other hand and separate the metal strands that hold the cork in place. You can either completely remove the wire cage at this point, but the bottle may have been shaken or there may be pressure build up which will get the cork jumping before you’re ready, so sometimes it is best to leave it on.
3. Opening the bottle
Tipping the bottle at a 45 degree angle, hold the cork with your left hand and gently turn the bottle with your right hand until you hear a little ‘pop’ (which incidentally is the carbon dioxide escaping from the bottle). Now you should be able to gradually ease the cork out.
4. Pouring the champagne
So you’ve gone to the trouble of opening the champagne with some style, you might as well pour it into a champagne glass with a little style too!! Pour a little at a time, so you don’t get a lot of foam overflowing over the sides of the champagne glass.
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