It is already the end of the festive season but I think bubbles can be drunk all year long! That is why I wanted to put to together a little guide on how to serve and open any sparkling wine.
I will give you some tips about opening and serving like a pro and how they do it in the restaurants!
Of course, to enjoy the more, you have to chill down the bottle before serving it. Not freezing cold because it will masks the flavours, but between 6-10°C for the best experience. If you got the bottle at room temperature but you want to drink it as soon as possible, put it in an icebucket filled with half water and half ice. You can rotate the bottle in it quickly a few times and then leave for 15 to 20 minutes and done! You can already enjoy it!
First of all you will need some tools to make it easier to open it. Let’s start with a white cloth for opening a bottle. When you remove the foil and while twist the tab, hold the cork and the cage with your thumb (which is super important!) and put the cloth on the top of the cork than grab the cork firmly with the cloth during opening. If you do it that way, the cork is not going to fly away but stay in the cloth and the same time if the wine wants to rush from the bottle, the cloth going to get it and won’t spray it everywhere. When you want to pull the cork out, first you need hold bottle at a 45° angle so that bottle pressure doesn’t bubble out. Always rotate the base of the bottle and never the cork. Like this you will have much more controll over the bottle.
Then you have to choose the correct glassware. In my opinion there is four types of glasses people use for sparkling wine:
- The one they were using in the 1950s is the Coupe Glass but because the bubbles disappeares quickly I do not really recommend it for a great Champagne.
- The second one is the Wide Tulip which can be great for vintage Champagne or Franciacorta because it leaves more contact with the oxygen so we can enjoy the complexity and flavours better with a good effervescence.
- The Tulip Glass will be an excellent choice if you have Prosecco or a Rosé Sparkling to serve because it will pronounce the floraly flavours in the glass.
- And I have left the most popular at the end, the Flute giving you the perfect choice for Cava, Crémant and any non-vintage Champagne. You will see the bubbles in the perfect way in this type of glass.
If you don’t have all these kind of glasses at home I think you can just go with the Flute for non-vintage sparkles and the Wide Tulip or a white wine glass for the premium or vintage Champagne.
When you pour the sparkling wine, the best way to hold the glass again at a 45° angle so the bubbles won’t break down too soon. Try to pour a glass without holding the angle and one with a 45° and you can see the difference. But always pay attention to the mousse, if you pour it too quick, you’ll get wet! Just slow down and you won’t waste a drop!
Before, Sparkling wines were the typical drink for an aperitif but now this has changed for a good reason! Bubbles can be served throughout the whole meal you just have to find the right style with the right dish. For aperitif, it is better to have a lighter style such as a Prosecco or a Non-vintage Champagne or a Blanc de Blancs. For starters or seafood, my favourite pairing is again the Blanc de Blancs,a Franciacorta Satén or a Cava with its freshness and citrusy flavours. As a main cours, you can experiment with Vintage Champagne, Franciacorta or a Blanc de Noirs. In any case, there is always a perfect Sparkling with every dish.
There are so much more to talk about but I hope that little guide is still helpful when you want to sip on a good glass of sparkling wine regardless if it is a Cava, Prosecco, Champagne or an Aussi sparkling. Santé!
