If You're Going To Shake That Bottle Of Champagne, You Must Follow This Rule

For some people, Champagne (or any type of sparkling wine) is perfect as an everyday sipper. For other people, it's reserved for a special occasion, whether to celebrate a birthday, ring in a new year, or mark a victory like a Formula 1 race or sports championship. It's in these latter examples that you're more likely to consider shaking a bottle, which most people know is not the right way to open Champagne. Unless you're trying to make a dramatic statement, it's best to wait before you uncork that bottle of bubbly.

The reason you don't want to shake a bottle of Champagne and open it right away is because pressure will force the cork to pop out and you'll lose a lot of wine in the spray. You'll also lose a lot of bubbles or what makes Champagne, well, bubbly. However, there is a way to shake your Champagne and still enjoy it, and that's to let it sit for a few minutes before you try and open it.

As reported by Wine Spectator, the University of Reims in Champagne-Ardenne (an organization that knows a thing or two about Champagne) showed in a study that shaking sparkling wine doesn't increase the chance of the bottle exploding during opening. In fact, the opposite is true as the risk is actually slightly reduced. 

When you agitate Champagne, the carbon dioxide inside the wine and trapped in the bottle's neck create more bubbles. If the bottle isn't opened right away, they will pop on their own, causing the carbon dioxide to dissolve back into the liquid. The study found that it takes around 220 seconds for those bubbles to vanish and prompt a subsequent reduction in pressure inside the bottle. So, if you shake Champagne, try and wait a few minutes before you open the bottle to take advantage of that pressure drop. If you wait longer, then it's not much different than if you hadn't shaken the bottle at all. 

To further minimize an explosion of Champagne, you should also keep bottles chilled – between 38 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit is generally the ideal serving temperature. You also shouldn't remove the cage on the sparkling wine as it can give you better traction when removing the cork. Though for some serious flair, you can saber the Champagne bottle, instead. Just make sure you've chilled it at the right temperature, too.