How to open champagne without a Wimbledon cork situation

Before you pop bottles with wild abandon this summer, its probably worth asking how you actually, properly open a bottle of champagne.

You definitely dont want a Wimbledon cork situation, after all.

Better to know now than to have a hurried Google search right when someone passes you their glass.

Also, better to know how to open champagne safely, rather than taking someones eye out with a flying cork.

So, how do you go about opening a bottle?

1. Remove the foil

This is your first step to greatness. Remove the foil covering the cork at the top. Dont panic, you dont need to get rid of every last scrap, just make sure youve got the bulk off.

2. Twist open the wire cage

Have a look at the cork and youll see a wire loop thats all twisted up. Slowly twisting this will loosen the cage thats holding the cork in place.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Keep one thumb on the cork while you gently twist it open.

3. Remove the cork

Now youve got a couple of options.

If you want to pop the cork in wild celebration, shake the bottle to stir up the bubbles, aim the cork away from yourself, your pals, or anything breakable, and use your thumb to push the cork out of the bottle. You might want to twist and wiggle it a little loose before doing this, so youre not awkwardly straining to spray champagne everywhere.

But popping the cork isnt necessary, and in most cases it ends up wasting quite a bit of your booze.

If youre actually interested in drinking the champers rather than spraying it everywhere, youll want to gently ease out the cork.

Grip the body of the bottle in one hand, then use your other hand to hold the cork, with your palm on top.

More: Food

Twist the bottle so you can see the cork slowly easing out. When its nearly out, simply pull the cork out gently, keeping a good grip so it doesnt fly away with force.

Easy, right?

Do all this with confidence and you shall look like wonderfully fancy. Just make sure you pour slowly so you dont ruin this effect by giving people glasses full of foam.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Oh, and if you find yourself in need of opening a bottle of wine and dont have a corkscrew to hand, theres a hack for that: