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19. Opening the bottle
A - The different methods
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The great wine of Champagne should not be served in just any old fashion. It deserves to be surrounded with a certain respect and honoured with a ceremony, which is part of the joy that one never fails to experience on uncorking (or even admiring the uncorking) of a bottle of Champagne.
Of course, for over two hundred and fifty years millions of corks have been let loose without any formality whatsoever, and this will continue for as long as Champagne is drunk. Opening a bottle in this way is often a spontaneous expression of joy, and has an undeniable value in creating a festive atmosphere or celebrating success. After all, the ‘pop’ of the cork is part of the elation of victory and the noise of the flying Champagne cork is just as good as musketry.
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Emotions exist even before the degustation!
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It has become uncouth today to pop corks during official meetings or society occasions, in restaurants or in public places. The true wine-lovers have definitively opted to open their bottles in silence. There are several advantages to this. After the sudden departure of the cork, the pressure abruptly reduces dispelling part of the bubbles, which has taken so much care and so many years to keep in the wine. Furthermore, one runs the risk of losing a substantial quantity of a great quality wine, which could be quite considerable if the bottle has been shaken or insufficiently chilled. It should be noted that a flying cork could be dangerous, because it leaves the bottle at a speed of 13 metres per second. Just one metre away, it can reach a speed of 40 km per hour in less than one tenth of a second. Indeed, you need exactly one tenth of a second to close your eyes. Accidents are rare, but they have happened.
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What do we think about cutting open a bottle of Champagne with a sword? It is a traditional custom in several armies worldwide, and particularly in the cavalry regiments. The process is quite simple. With one hand, you hold the bottle by the body (with the palm underneath), and with the other you slide the sword's blade flat, in one quick motion, over the upper part of the bottle with the blunt side facing the bottleneck. In this way, the sword will cut off the bottle ring, which, due its manufacturing design, will separate, taking with it the wire muzzle and the cork. The breakage is perfectly clean and there are no fragments of glass in the Champagne. Opening the Champagne with a sword does not harm it, but it might wound onlookers if the operator is clumsy. Even more than this, with the pop of the cork, you risk losing sparkle, pressure and wine. This explains why it is preferable that the bottle should always be chilled for this process.
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It is always better to uncork gently to preserve in full the physical and organoleptical qualities of the Champagne, while still creating an atmosphere of meditation specific to its enjoyment. It could be added that it is made up of a ritual, whose rules, if scrupulously observed, will both delight the initiated and leave the beginner tantalised.
B - The classic opening processes
First of all, ensure that everything is ready for the opening. The bottle, duly chilled in its ice bucket or insulating sleeve, a glass within hand's reach, a clean serviette, a pair of pincers and a corkscrew designed for stiff corks. The most convenient pincers are the sommelier's pincers or even better Champagne pincers, which are thicker and clasp all of the free part of the cork.
Then, you can start to open the bottle. To avoid an exaggerated spray of sparkle on opening, all these procedures should take place without shaking the bottle, while holding it by the body rather than by the bottleneck, which would cause the wine to reheat. If the bottle is at the right serving temperature, there should be no other problem than the cork itself. Here are the rules that wine-waiters use for opening a bottle of Champagne. Of course, at home, the individual is free to choose those that seem necessary.
1. Take the bottle out of its receptacle. If it was in a Champagne ice bucket, wipe it with a serviette (this could then be used for the uncorking processes but is not vital). Turn it carefully around once or twice to mix the duly chilled liquid with the liquid in the bottleneck, which is not so chilled. Failing to do this means that the Champagne poured into the first glass is not cold enough and this is normally the glass of the consumer who will judge the quality of the service.
2. Present the bottle to the guests because the aesthetics of its presentation contribute to their enjoyment.
3. Extricate the eyelet of the wire muzzle and untwist it, separating slightly the branches of the wire muzzle. The eyelet (loop) is sometimes obvious, or at least visible by the bulge it forms underneath the foil. Otherwise, it is necessary to touch the bottleneck to feel it with your fingers. If the foil is too thick to perceive the eyelet, you must take off successive pieces with your nail until you discover it. This is the only situation in which you may "undress" the upper part of the bottle. It is considered that doing this systematically is a waste of time and unaesthetic. Usually, the eyelet untwists anti-clockwise but for some brands it is the opposite, so be wary.
4. While trying to imperceptibly turn the cork (still partially held in place by the wire muzzle), check if it is strongly stuck in the bottleneck (generally the case for a recently corked bottle) or if it risks exiting as soon as the wire muzzle is undone. This can happen, for example, with a "cheville" cork (common with older wines).
5. If the cork is firmly stuck to the bottleneck, finish separating the branches of the wire muzzle and at the same time the foil covering it. Then with one movement, using your fingers as a hook, take the wire off. Immediately place your thumb on the cork as a security measure. If you feel the cork is ready to spring (in order to avoid being caught in the act), take the wire muzzle and its foil cap off in one single movement and release the cork using the advice below.
6. Take the body of the bottle with one hand, at an angle of 30 to 45° in order to ease the uncorking, and avoid the loss of sparkle on opening. Be careful however not to aim the bottle towards one of your assistants, who could be injured by an untimely release of the cork. At the same time, hold the cork with the other hand, clasping it with the thumb positioned on top, the index finger surrounding the free part of the cork and the other fingers holding on to the bottleneck.
7. Turn the bottle to separate it from the cork without any noise, by twisting it slightly (if necessary) with the thumb and index finger (the other three fingers should still be tight around the bottleneck) and gradually release the gas until the opening is complete. If necessary, to use more force, you can place the hand that turns the bottle under the punt. If the cork resists, shake it with the pincers and finish uncorking by hand.
8. Wipe the bottleneck with the serviette (or the mirror of the cork), while slowly rotating the bottle (still at an angle) if the sparkle is likely to come out by itself.
9. Pour out a third of a glass to the master of the house so that he can ensure that both the quality and the temperature of the wine are suitable. In a crowded reception, you should check the state of the wine yourself.
This method of uncorking is the only one to ensure perfect control of the cork, due to the mobility of the thumb and the steadiness of the hand. This is an advantage missing from the other method of covering the cork with the palm of your hand, which is used far too frequently. Turning the cork instead of the bottle is extremely inadvisable. You have less strength than when you hold the body of the bottle and less control over the opening, which thus risks breaking the cork.
You can systematically use pincers to release the cork and finish uncorking by hand. This is usually done when there are numerous bottles to uncork. In a desperate situation, you could dip the top of the bottleneck in hot water for two minutes, with your thumb still positioned on the cork. This process may be used if the cork has broken, but, in this case, you can also use a corkscrew. The only precaution that must be taken is to surround the bottleneck with a serviette in the unlikely event that it breaks.
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