<>Try these steps the next time it’s your job to taste the wine table-side at your favorite restaurant. I call this easy system the five S’s.

1- “See” Look at the wine. Does the red wine have a ruby color or does it look rusty. Does the Chardonnay have a golden color or does it look brown? It a general visual inspection. You’ll know when something is wrong.

2- “Swirl” Hold the glass on the table and move it around in a clockwise direction. This will mix the wine with the air producing a “nose”.

<><>3-“Sniff” Bend the swirling wine glass toward your nose and breath in slowly.
You Should” breath in”concentrating on the aroma.On the most basic level you should like what you smell. A bad wine is easy to pick out, your nose will tell you long befoe you’re taste buds. DON’T smell the cork. You can’t tell anything from the cork. Just leave it be!

4- “Sip” go ahead and taste it. Breath in as you move the wine around in your mouth so the taste buds for sweet and sour each get a crack at the flavor.

5-“Savor” Drink it down and reflect.Did you like the wine. Or did it leave a bad aftertaste. Did it meet or exceed your expectations.

Follow the FIVE S sysytem and you’ll get better at inspecting the wine you order

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However, Opening and serving sparkling wine can be tricky and even dangerous if you aren’t careful. In fact there are 96 pounds of air pressure in the average Champagne bottle. Think about it this way, it’s three times the pressure you have in the average car tire. Would you casually pop your car tires?

I suggest you consider following these five steps to opening your next bottle to ensure safe enjoyment of your next bottle of Sparkling wine .

1- Remove the foil rapper over the cork.
2- Put your thumb over the cork and loosen the wire cage
3- Remove the wire cage making sure your thumb keeps pressure on the cork. This is really important!
4- Cover the hand holding the bottle of wine with a towel. This prevents the cork from flying. (Which most amateurs try to do)
5-Tilt the bottle about 60 degrees, (this allows the (Co2) gas to rush out of the bottle without taking the wine with it) Very important.
6-Next: twist the bottle while holding the cork.
The cork will open safely in your hand emitting the festive sound —POP!

If you follow these six steps you’ll enjoy all the fun of sparkling wine and safely too.