The season of champagne drinking is here. It’s December, it’s all about sparkling wines and champagnes, at least abroad. Here, you in India, if you are lucky enough, might get a bonus that can buy you a bottle of champagne. If you ever manage to successfully get your hands on a bottle, here’s the right way to consume it. Cheers!
First and foremost, don’t hurt yourself or others: We get the excitement behind opening a bottle of champagne, it’s very very thrilling. But ensure your safety first. Once you remove the foil, keep the small wire aka cage on the cork. If you are loosening the cage, place a hand hand on the cork so that it mistakenly doesn’t pop off and hit anyone.
Give it a spin: The right way is to not twist the cork, but to get a solid grip of the cork and to twist the bottom of the bottle until you steadily remove the cork. It’s not that rigid, champagne is also about having fun, you can have fun with popping it, but don’t aim at anyone’s face.
Serve it at the right temperature: Champagne tastes best when chilled, but not when it’s freezing cold. The temperature should be somewhere around 50 degrees (10 degrees celsius). Most refrigerators run at about 7 degrees celsius, so leave your bottle for a while in room temperature. As cool as it may seem to drown your bottle in a bucket of ice water, it’s just going to lock down all aromas.
Pouring like a pro: Wrap your hand around the bottom for a steady grip and solid balance and tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle to pour the champagne along the side of the glass. This way, there’s very little foam formed and you get to enjoy the true taste of the drink.
Skip flutes: Yes, champagne looks really pretty in the flute with its beautiful colour and bubbles and all that, but it’s not actually the ideal glass. The issue is the shape of the glass which stops oxygen to open up the champagne and blocks the aromas from reaching your nose. There are custom-made champagne glasses, but you probably don’t have one, so an ordinary white wine glass will do just fine.
Sniff, swirl, sip: This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise since champagne is so close to wines in many ways. Sniff your champagne, slowly swirl it and feel the aromas spreading. Take a slow sip and let the celebrations begin.
