It’s funny how there are some fully grown adults who will actually leave the room when someone is popping the cork off a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine. I assume these people have had traumatic experiences involving flying, ricocheting corks and black eyes. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Wall Street Journal provides a quick tutorial just in time for Valentine’s Day. The only part I’d disagree with is unbottling while the muzzle is still loosely on—some corks require the full grip and the cage just gets in the way.
Not that I am a fan of Valentine’s Day—there is no worse night to be at a restaurant, assuming you secured reservations six months ago. The service and the quality of the food can be sacrificed while the line to get seated, even with a reservation, is longer than the line to Space Mountain during spring break. But Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to open that bottle of wine or champagne you’ve been saving (for what?). On a junket to Champagne three years ago, I remember being told repeatedly that champagne should be drunk on any occasion—not just holidays (of course they would say that). Still, I agree.