How To Open a Wine Bottle

Wine bottles have been traditionally finished with natural cork closures, a renewable resource. Cork has unique advantages over all other types of closure and still remains the closure of choice for wines intended for cellaring.

Opening a Cork Closure

Traditional cork-finished wines are covered with a lead foil capsule punctured with two or three very small holes to allow for the micro-oxygenation that promotes the healthy development of cellared wines. This lead capsule is usually cut around with a sharp or serrated knife, exposing the surface of the cork. The worm of the corkscrew is placed in the center and driven all the way through the cork; otherwise, cork breakage may occur, especially in older wines with softened corks. The cork is then removed according to the design of the corkscrew. Once removed, the dry end of the cork will be a little smaller than the wet end, allowing for re-insertion if desired. The main disadvantage of natural cork is that around 5% of cork-finished wines are damaged by cork taint, a potent naturally-occurring toxin that destroys any wine that comes in contact with it.

Synthetic Cork Closures

Synthetic cork closures, the rage of the 1990s, are very tightly compressed and often more difficult to extract.

Screwcap Closures

These are gaining in popularity for low-end and even mid-priced wines. Their only disadvantage is in the case of wines intended for long cellaring, as they do not provide the controlled rate of oxygen transfer that proper natural cork offers. Just twist off, twist on.

Opening Sparkling Wine

Champagne and sparkling wines are under pressure and come in heavier bottles (invented by the English!) and feature a unique, universal closure. Champagne corks are inserted under pressure and designed to expand to provide the tightest possible seal. Once removed, they are not designed to be re-inserted. The mushroom-shaped cork is surrounded by a wire cage with a ring to be twisted six times for removal. The cage is covered with a loose foil capsule not punctured because the extremely tight cork and cage discourages oxygen exchange.

Look for a tiny tab or opening in the foil covering. If you can’t find it, use a knife to cut away the covering, exposing the cage. Bend out the ring and turn it six times, then lift the cage off the bottle. Hold the bottle firmly in one hand, the cork tightly in the other. Twist the bottle, keeping the cork firmly in hand. Do not “pop” the cork or the wine will gush out, losing some of its effervescence and wasting some of the wine.