Why don't I get the hiss but a pop when opening Champagne bottle?

WINE TALK
1

I’ve been following the proper way of gently rotating the bottle while holding on to the cork. But I never get the smoothing hiss but a pop sound when the cork is coming off.

No spills and the juice is still good, but wonder what is wrong.

2

At the very end, just before the cork is all the way out, wiggle it gently and tip it to open a small crack through which the air can escape.

1 Like
3

What Sarah said. I find myself pushing the cork inward rather than pulling towards the end of extracting to counter the internal pressure. I also find holding the bottle at 45 degrees lessens the potential for overflow in the accidental instances of a vigorous pop.
Cheers,
Warren

4

or you are opening young bottles that have more aggressive bubbles/pressure.

5

Another question for those more experienced champagne drinkers: how much does a loud pop vs. gentle hiss affect the resulting champagne once poured? Is there a meaningful difference in effervescence?

6

This. If there is substantial pressure in the bottle, you’d have to exert a lot of force to stop the cork from popping out instantly. OP is not doing anything wrong, it’s just physics [cheers.gif]

7

I do pretty well usually but definitely the younger NV bottles are much harder to control. The cork is also firmer and more elastic so that makes it harder for the pressure to escape through a side vent. My technique works pretty much flawlessly for 08 bottles and earlier.

8

We seem to have two versions of this thread

9

Oh sorry for double posts. Thanks for everyone’s reply.

10

The other thread has a better response champagne.gif neener

11

I’ve never actually heard a nun fart; perhaps they pop

12

It’s because you’re not using a saber.

13

Make sure the wine is cold enough. The bottles are thicker and take longer to cool down.

14

Exactly what I was thinking!

15

Triple, actually.

16



I think Sarah’s correct.

Since you mentioned holding on to the cork but didn’t mention the wire, I want to double-check that you’re holding the untwisted extra wire between your middle and ring fingers. I know that’s usually touted as a safety measure, but it also allows you to exert fine-tuned control of the cork between your thumb and index finger to do the [very slight] wiggling Sarah talks about.

All that said, I still get a pop about 20% of the time.