Over the festive season most if not all of the parties and major entertainment events served a variety of wines, and some even had dedicated wine bars. Something that I noticed over and over again was that most of the bartenders and waiters responsible for serving wines and Champagnes did not have any idea how to properly open the bottle.

Opening a bottle of wine

Wine service at a party is a bit less formal and different from that of a dinner or a restaurant. In a restaurant one has to present the selected wine to the guest and await approval, then the bottle is opened and the cork is presented to the guest. Let’s go through the simple steps; the best tool is the classic waiters or professional lever corkscrew:

o Use the corkscrew knife to cut around capsule below the raised lip near mouth of bottle

Remove capsule, place in apron or pocket (never in ice bucket or on table)

If foil tears, remove entire capsule

o Insert tip of worm into cork from 45-degree angle, then twist to vertical with cork

o Hold bottle and twist corkscrew until the spiral has fully entered cork

o Place lever on lip of bottle and hold in place while slowly and gently levering the handle upward to extract cork

o If cork shows signs of breaking, back screw up a half-turn and lever gently (this changes stress point on cork)

o Screw cap: unscrew the cap and place in pocket or out of sight and proceed with service

At a party several bottles are already pre-selected for offer and guests just choose which wine they prefer.

Open a Champagne bottle

Sparkling wine, especially Champagne bottles, can be very dangerous upon opening; I did see a few near misses over this holiday season. There are about six atmospheres of pressure or three times the pressure in your car tyre inside the bottle that can send the cork flying over 70 mph across the room.

Preliminaries:

1. Never open a non-chilled bottle (even if guests are impatient). It WILL almost always explosively foam over.

2. If not pre-chilled, 15-20 minutes in ice bucket should be adequate (cold reduces internal pressure).

3. Ice bucket mixture: 50/50 crushed ice and water.

In-hand opening

Hold the bottle firmly in your hand, grasping the upper shoulder of bottle.

With your hand or thumb firmly over the cork (and napkin over the cork) untwist the wire cage and loosen the wire gently without removing the foil. Do NOT remove the cage. Always keep your thumb on the cork.

Hold bottle at 45-degree angle (away from people)

Rotate the bottle, not the cork, with your other hand to loosen the cork. Do not pull at the cork. Some other sparkling wines might not be as easy as Champagne to open.

Resist the pressure of the cork as it dislodges itself from the bottle, and allow it to ease out very slowly. There should be no “pop”, rather a light “hiss” or “sigh”. Loud pop allows too much gas to escape and deflates the bead.

Let the bottle remain at a 45-degree angle for a few seconds to prevent it from overflowing.

Correct Champagne service is performed in one or two pours, but if two pours, pour one glass at a time, letting the mousse subside in between. In flute glasses, leave at least an inch at the top.

Formal wine service has a few more steps involved; I just tried to cover the very basics of just opening the bottle correctly.

Chris Reckord – Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. He and his wife Kerri-Anne are part-owners of Jamaica’s only Wine Bar – Bin 26 Wine Bar in Devon House, Kingston. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com