Champagne is synonymous with celebrations but even connoisseurs may run into issues in popping open a bottle. In this case, you should know how to open champagne with broken cork.
When the cork breaks, don’t panic and carefully assess the situation at hand instead. Try uncorking again but do it at a 45° angle. You can also use hot water to loosen the neck bottle. And if all else fails, push the cork into the bottle.
There are various ways you can solve this issue but you can also prevent it altogether by storing the bottle right and making sure you use the correct bottle-opening tools.
How To Open Champagne With Broken Cork: What to Do When Cork Breaks in Champagne Bottle
Champagne is an integral part of parties and celebrations. The popping sound of opening a champagne bottle and the bubbles of the fizzy drink will add even more festivity to the already festive occasion.
Part of serving champagne is serving it right. After all, you don’t want all that sophisticated fizz and bubbles to go to waste. But, as with anything unpredictable, you can run into a problem.
As you are trying to uncork the bottle of champagne and make a show out of it for your guests, the cork breaks and crumbles. You have one part of the cork in your hand and another part of the cork still stick inside the neck of the bottle. So what can you do now that the cork broke?
- Avoid the problem altogether: invest in bottle-opening tools and store the champagne bottle properly
Before trying to solve the issue, you might want to try ways to avoid it in the first place.
You can avoid having to deal with the issue by making sure you are using the correct bottle-opening tools to open your bubbly sparkling wine.
While you can get away with your typical everyday wine corkscrew, you might want to invest in an ah-so. An ah-so is a two-pronged cork bottle opener that grips the cork on either side to rock and unscrew the cork up and out of the bottle’s neck.
The Durand is a corkscrew/ah-so hybrid that is often recommended by many professionals. It’s specially designed to uncork old bottles, many of which may have fragile corks.
You can also avoid the problem altogether by making sure you store your champagne bottles properly.
Cork is a natural product and can decline in quality over time.
If you’re planning on drinking and serving a sparkling wine bottle immediately, you can keep them upright. But if you’re planning on storing them for a month or so, it would be best to store them horizontally. This way, the corks would not dry out and easily break when you finally pop them open.
- Assess the situation and don’t panic
When this kind of accident happens, a person’s first reaction is to panic out of embarrassment. When the champagne bottle’s cork breaks and gets stuck, take your time to breathe and assess the situation. Panic shouldn’t be your first reaction.
Corks are fragile by nature, so too much force exerted on them can potentially cause breakage. While trying to pop the champagne at first, you need to be slow and patient.
When this fails and you do end up with a broken and stuck cork in the bottle’s neck, you should still solve the problem by going slow and carefully.
First, try and see if your corkscrew can reach the stuck cork inside the bottle. If it does, try to get it unstuck slowly but with enough pressure.
- Take advantage of the right angles
If half of the cork gets stuck in the bottle, insert the corkscrew at a 45-degree angle. Use the side of the bottle as leverage. Slide the cork up and out of the neck of the bottle.
Remember, be gentle and take the whole process slowly.
- Utilize some hot water
Some cases call for very simple solutions. If trying to get the cork out with various tools doesn’t work on its own, turn to some hot water.
Run the bottle of the neck under very hot water for about 30 seconds. The high temperature will expand the glass of the neck part of the bottle, just enough space to get the cork out.
- Push the cork into the bottle
If all else fails and you really can’t get the cork out of the bottle, there’s one last thing for you to try: push the cork into the bottle. This will finally allow you to pour out the champagne for you and your guests.
To serve, pour the champagne into a decanter through a filter. A cheesecloth, fine sieve, or coffee filter will help ensure that you serve and drink only cork-free champagne.
What Causes Broken Champagne Cork?
Now that you know what you can do if you find yourself dealing with a broken champagne cork, let’s dive deep into what exactly causes it.
Here are a few common reasons why champagne corks may sometimes break:
- The person uncorking the champagne is inexperienced. Properly uncorking a bottle of champagne can be complicated and could require a specific skill set.
- The cork has dried out and become fragile over time. This is especially true if you’ve been storing your champagne for a long time in an upright position. If you’re planning on storing it for some time, it’s best to store the bottle in a horizontal position.
- Some corks are simply poorly made compared to others. This causes them to be fragile and easily break.
- Older champagne bottles tend to have more fragile corks. The older the bottle is, the more careful you should be in uncorking.
Is Champagne With a Broken Cork Still Safe to Drink?
When the cork crumbles and breaks apart, it can’t be helped that some parts of it end up in the champagne. Pushing the cork into the champagne may also be your last resort to open the bottle of champagne.
You don’t have to worry though because the champagne is still safe to drink.
You’d have to filter all the cork bits out to ensure you’re serving only cork-free champagne.
You can do this by pouring the champagne into a decanter through a filter. You can also pour and filter directly on champagne flutes.
Conclusion
Believe it or not, breaking champagne corks and getting them stuck in the bottle is a common issue, that even professionals face. When it comes down to it, you should know how to open champagne with broken cork.
First, make sure you have all the right bottle-opening tools and that the champagne has been stored properly. When faced with the issue, do not panic and assess the situation logically. Use a 45-degree angle when attempting to uncork again. Hot water may also help but if all else fails, push the cork into the bottle.
There are various ways to open a champagne bottle with a broken cork. Several ways have been presented and you can try each one to see what works best.
