Champagne 101: The Basics of Bubbly

http://www.novusvinum.com/features/champagne101.html

Practical Tips

Storing your Champagne:
Champagne is more sensitive to temperature and light than most other wines. For that reason, it is typically bottled in a light-resistant, dark green glass. Champagne should be stored between 40 and 60 degrees Farenheit and may be kept upright or horizontally.

Chilling:
Ideally, Champagne should be chilled to a temperature between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature can be attained by placing the bottle in a refrigerator for a couple of hours or a freezer for 15 minutes. Finally, the classic way to chill a bottle of Champagne is to place it in an ice-bucket, half filled with ice, half with water, for 20 minutes.

Opening a Champagne Bottle:
The trick to opening a bottle of Champagne while maintaining its integrity is to avoid "popping" the cork. Begin by scoring the foil around the base of the wire cage. Then, carefully untwist and loosen the bottom of the cage, but do not remove it. In one hand, enclose the cage and cork while holding the base of the Champagne bottle with your other hand. Twist both ends in the opposite direction. As soon as you feel pressure forcing the cork out, try to push it back in while continuing to twist gently until the cork is released with a sigh.

And I would do that with real Champagne, not sparkling wine.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-open-a-bottle-of-champagne-with-a-sword

checking for glass shards might make me too paranoid :scared:

If you do it right (and there is a trick) no glass lands in the glasses.

But you don't want to do it with good Champagne - And you need to be careful with the less expensive brands of bubbly - the bottles can split.

The easy way to do it:

Make sure the bottle is THOROUGHLY chilled.
Wrap it in a towel.
Just below the wire cage at the wire, score the glass all the way around the bottle with a file or a glass cutter.
Go outside.
Point the bottle away from you at a 45deg angle.
Use the back of a chefs knife or the back of a cleaver to "sabre" off the cork.
Have glasses ready. Pour. Drink. Bonne Annee!!

And be careful of the edge of the bottle afteward. That sucker is sharp. You'll be able to retreive the cork in the morning - it should have a nice little ring of glass around it.

Is that a bad thing? :P

and drank the Champagne, too. The local PEN Women group sponsored a tour for a Russian quartet, and in their honor, Champagne was opened with a sword. (They were quite dumbfounded. I guess they don't really do that in Russia.) LOL