Opening A Champagne Bottle

Video Transcript

"Okay, so I think one of the other things that is a bit intimidating about Champagne is actually getting it open safely and not blowing a hole in your ceiling. So, what I'd like to do is bring in my lovely assistant, Madison, who doesn't open anywhere near as much Champagne as I do, to show you that it can be done. Now I'm not going to touch the bottle. Madison is going to take it and I'm going to give her instructions. And this will show you really how easy it is. There are a couple of different steps and safety is definitely something worth thinking about. Our champagne is properly chilled so, that it's not going to try and blow off the top. Warm champagne would be much more dangerous than cold champagne. The first thing we are going to do is we are going to pull it out of the water and wipe it off so that we've got a nice, safe perch when we grab onto it. Okay. Now, you can see on some of them, you've got this little tab. And we want to take the foil off the top, around, so let's just pull that tab and get the foil off. And at this point, what she's going to expose is what's call the cage. While the cage is still on the cork, we are completely safe. We've got no problem. So, there's how we open up the cage. So what I'll do is I'll take the knife and I'll just bend this part down, okay? Or you can do it with your fingernails, I don't happen to have enough fingernails. Now we are going to twist it. Let's stop. Here's where we start to get a little bit dangerous. Now, I don't know for sure that that cork is in there. I'm betting it is, but I still want to be careful. So while she's undoing the cage, make sure you've got your thumb on top and we are holding it down. And you'll feel if the cork wants to start coming up. Alright and once the cage is open, let's just spread it out a little bit so we can pull it off. Do you feel any pressure from the cork? [No.] Okay, good. So put it down slowly on the table and pull that cage part off. Okay, good! There we go! So now, here's the tricky part. And here's where we want to make sure that we are handling the bottle gently. Take your towel and let's lay it right underneath with just a little bit...no, we want a little bit more up top. Okay, good. Now, here's a mistake that a lot of people make when they go from here. First of all, let's get our thumb on the top because now we are going to start getting to the more dangerous area. A lot of people try and twist the cork. The important part is to twist the bottle and not the cork. So, do you have a good grip on the cork? Okay, now, as you can begin to see it move (you can see it's moving right now, right?), you can feel the pressure. Push back a little bit. Let it go very slowly. And what we are looking for is not a pop, but a kiss. Keep going. As you can see, she's moving, rotating the bottle. Oh! Little pop, that's okay! Now, we've got our towel in case it starts to spill over, but we did quite well. Alright, there ya go. And that's it; very easy!"