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Whether you're having a party with friends or serving a table at a restaurant, opening a bottle of wine can sometimes be tricky. The fact of the matter, though, is that opening wine bottles is easier than you think. When opening sparkling wines, you need to be cautious about the type of cork and also the amount of pressure inside the bottle.

Opening Sparkling Wine with a Corkscrew

Remove the outer layer of foil covering the cork. Most sparkling wines will have this outer layer.

Inspect the type of cork. There are two styles of cork for sparkling wine bottles. One is a mushroom shape that protrudes from the bottle and cannot be opened with a corkscrew. The other looks like a regular wine cork. This second style is found mostly with Moscato and Prosecco and can be opened with a corkscrew.

Hold the bottle with one hand and insert the corkscrew into the center of the cork.

Begin to twist the corkscrew until four-fifths of it has penetrated the cork.

Place the hinge end of the corkscrew on the lip of the wine bottle and slowly begin to pull upwards. The cork should pull out quite easily.

Tips

  • You may need to adjust the depth of the corkscrew inside the cork, depending on the type of corkscrew and your ability to pull the cork out of the bottle. There will be more force from the cork when it leaves a bottle of sparkling wine than from a regular bottle of wine because of the carbonation.