How To Serve Champagne
People drink champagne when they are happy, sad, when they are alone or among friends, celebrating a victory or wallowing in defeat, or simply when they are thirsty. But properly serving a glass of expensive, or cheaper, champagne does not simply involve popping the cork and pouring it into a glass. There is a fine art to the elegant procedure of champagne serving.
Proper Technique For Serving Champagne
Serving champagne with style and class requires cooling the wine to the proper temperature, removing the cork quietly, and most importantly, pouring it into the glass so that it doesn’t overflow onto you or your guests. As simple as this process sounds, it actually takes time, and much practice, to hone this craft.
Champagne is best served in long, tulip shaped glasses called flutes. These glasses are specifically designed to enhance the aromas of the wine with the flow of bubbles. A room temperature glass should be used, as a cold or chilled glass can actually take away from the overall enjoyment of the wine itself. Flutes are also the glass of choice because the crystal of the glass is rougher than that of an ordinary glass. This allows the bubbles to form properly, giving you the best aroma and taste.
Chilling Your Champagne
The optimal temperature at which champagne should be served is from 43 to 48 degrees (Fahrenheit). The aromas and taste of the wine are best appreciated in this range. To achieve the proper serving temperature for your champagne before your guests arrive, simply place your unopened bottle into an ice bucket filled halfway with ice and the other half with water. This is a quick way to chill your wine, as it can be done in about 20 to 30 minutes, or if you have more time, refrigeration of 3 to 4 hours will suffice as well. Refrigerators are typically too cold for extended cooling periods, and you certainly never want to freeze champagne, as this will destroy all of those wonderful flavors.
Corking Your Champagne
Use your thumb or finger to hold over the cork to avoid premature popping. While doing this, remove just enough of the foil to loosen and remove the twisted wire underneath. If the cork is already loose, you can carefully remove it with the wire. More often than not, the cork will need to be eased out of place, so you will want to point the bottle away from you or your guests to avoid injury. Holding the bottle at a 45 degree angle, gently twist the bottle in one direction. Do not twist back and forth. You'll also want to position yourself closest to the first person’s glass you will be filling. In the event that the cork is mishandled or the wine begins gushing out of the bottle, you will want to have a drinking vessel to pour it into.
“Popping” sounds fun and offer great theatrics, but you never want to hear that sound when opening your bottle of champagne. Precious bubbles are wasted during popping the cork, which in turn leads to wasted taste. If you execute the proper removal of the cork, you should hear a very nice, quiet sigh when it comes out. A popped champagne cork can be a dangerous weapon if it comes off improperly. If the champagne is properly chilled and you haven’t shaken the bottle too much, you should be able to avoid this improper technique.
Once you've properly opened your bottle of champagne, you can now begin to serve your guests and letting the festive times commence.
