You’ve sent out invites for the party, bought your favourite brand of champagne, and got matching glasses to serve it in. The prized bubbly is nicely chilled and your abode’s suitably spruced up for revelry. Nothing, it seems, can stop you from having the best champagne party of the century.

Until you find yourself frantically (and unglamourously) attempting to uncork the bottle, that is.

While popping champagne doesn’t involve rocket science, it certainly helps to pick up a trick or two. They could save you some face – and precious champagne, too.

Cool it

As a rule, make sure your champagne is cold. If it’s relatively warm, it will foam and spill when you uncork the bottle. You may also lose some of the drink and mess up the place.

As a rough gauge, the bottle should feel very cold and not just cool. Chill it at about seven degrees Celsius before bringing it out. Alternatively, let it sit in an ice bucket for 20 minutes. Add a little water to the ice to cool down the bubbly even more. But make sure not to overdo it as flavours tend to be lost when champagnes are over-chilled.

Stand by

Before attempting the deed, dry the bottle with a kitchen towel so you’ll get a good grip. Then remove the foil and loosen the wire cage surrounding the cork.

Hold the bottle upright and drape the towel over the top to catch the cork if, for whatever reason, it does pop out prematurely. The towel will also help capture spills, should the uncorking act be less than perfect.

Turn the bottle, not the cock

Now, get a good grip on the cork while securely supporting the neck of the bottle. Slowly and gently turn the fat part of the bottle with your other free hand. You’ll slowly feel the cork loosening but keep holding onto it and don’t try to yank it out immediately.

Softly does it

When you eventually hear a soft “pop” (which, by the way, means that you have successfully preserved the bubbles in the champagne; a loud pop means you've probably let out too much carbon dioxide, plus a good bit of the bubbly!), you know you’re ready to enthral your guests with the good stuff.

Less is more

Don’t get too complacent yet, for you still need to present the champagne properly. Remember you are not serving beer, so go easy on the foam that forms atop each drink. Pour just a bit (about an ounce) of the bubbly into a tall champagne flute or tulip-shaped glass, then wait for the first foaming bubbles to subside before pouring more, until you hit the two-thirds mark. This will prevent foam from spilling over the sides.

Keep cool

When you’ve filled the glasses, keep the champagne cool and in optimal condition by placing it back in the ice bucket.

Hold it right

Lastly, a note about sipping your champagne: instead of holding the glass by the bowl, hold the stem. You don’t want to warm and therefore impair the taste of your sparkling treat.

All geared up for a cool chill-out session? Have a good one, cheers!