HOW TO OPEN CHAMPAGNE LIKE A GENTLEMAN

On our weeklong roadtrip up north, Adam and I made a stop at the tiny riverside village of Charlevoix, where we stayed at the opulent Fairmount Richelieu — the hotel where his parents first met and fell in love. Because we were there in April, the gigantic hotel was practically deserted — it was actually a little spooky! (Adam kept referring to it as the ‘Shining House.’)

Our first night there, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant with a few of the staff, including the general manager, who showed Adam how to open a bottle of champagne with a enormous sword! He told us that ‘every gentleman’ should know how to open a bottle of bubbly with a sharp object! He showed us how you have find the weak spot on the neck of the wine, and then strike it in one swift motion to cleave the neck directly underneath the cork. (You can even pull off this trick with a butter knife!) True to form, Adam pulled it off with style and panache.