On New Year’s Eve you may find yourself with a bottle of champagne in hand and all eyes on you. Do you know the right way to open a bottle of champagne? Do a little homework with these helpful videos. You can look like a pro (don’t shake it!) and keep more of the champagne in the bottle than on the floor. That’s what we call success.

Check out Erik Segelbaum, sommelier at DC’s Le Diplomate, who talks very clearly about the dangers of flying champagne corks, which inflict harm on 80 people a year. A search on YouTube will give you compilations of epic fails in this department. Avoid becoming one of those statistics this New Year’s Eve.

Of course, to make it more exciting, Ariane always sabers her bubbly, as you can see in this photo from a Duckathlon. These chefs got a little carried away.

How does sabrage – or sabering champagne – actually work?  This video offers close-up details, and the correct angle to hold the bottle. It’s a simple technique, but details matter if you want to get it right.

Be aware that this can result in a big mess and a loss of champagne, if you’re not careful. This is what it looks like when sabering goes wrong.

And here’s the world record for sabering champagne, set by a fairly nonchalant New Yorker. We salute you, sir.

We wish you a very happy New Year’s and many bottles of champagne.