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.