There is no sound more synonymous with celebration than the sharp pop of a Champagne cork. Professionals, of course, recommend easing the cork out slowly enough so that only a slight gasp is heard, which one waggish sommelier likened to "the sound of a contented woman."
Volume preferences aside, we recently discovered that the ultimate way to open a bottle of Champagne is simply to lop off the entire neck with a sword.
This technique is best known as "sabrage," from the French word for saber, and allegedly it was discovered during the Napoleonic wars by French officers who frequented the Clicquot Champagne house.