Why is it important to follow the correct procedure when serving a bottle of wine?

Why a Wine Bottle Breaks When a Cork Presses Directly Against the Liquid

Breaking a wine bottle by pounding a cork directly into it without air between the cork and liquid showcases an interesting principle of physics related to incompressibility of fluids and pressure. Liquids are virtually incompressible, which means they do not appreciably change volume when pressure is applied. Punching a cork into a bottle filled with liquid transmits that force directly and uniformly throughout the liquid, including against the walls of the bottle. The pressure increases dramatically at points where the force is applied, potentially causing the bottle to shatter.

However, if there is air between the cork and the liquid, the bottle will usually not break because air is compressible. When you apply force to the cork, the air cushion compresses and absorbs much of that energy, reducing the pressure exerted on the liquid and the bottle's walls. The absence of a direct force transfer and the distributed pressure prevent the bottle from breaking.