How To Saber A Champagne Bottle
I'll confess, I've never done it but I have often dreamed of sabering a champagne bottle. Nothing is more dramatic than slicing the top off of a champagne bottle. The Hill has an article on this necessary holiday trick. Jason Tesauro, co-author of The Modern Gentleman and The Modern Lover, teaches classes on the gentlemanly arts at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner and one of his tricks is sabering. Hey, James, can't girls do this too? According to James Tesauro, no sword is required, you can do it do this with the back edge of a chef's knife. The champagne has to be well-chilled, and you find one of the two vertical seams running up the sides then aim for the spot on the bottleneck where the seam meets the lower lip. You grip the bottle around the base, angle it away from the crowd and take a big swing. You'll probably lose a little wine to the gesture but it is worth the big showy impression it makes.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
A B L Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM
Having done this a number of times I can vouch for the fact that it usually works well. I built up my confidence for this showy trick at many a party, and once performed it on New Year's Eve, in front of a staring crowd, on a balcony impressively lit from a pool just below. Contrary to the article a VERY HEAVY chef's knife, preferably a meat cleaver is pretty much required if you don't have a heavy sword handy. On this occasion, only a very flimsy meat cleaver was made available, and its lack of mass failed to sever the bottle's neck at first try.
Unbeknownst to me though, the bottle probably cracked from the shock, so that on the second try it shattered into a thousand pieces, which sparkled their way into the pool below, soon followed by quite a few drops of deep red - blood, not wine, yes mine.
I have not performed the trick since in either its 'basic' or 'bloody' versions. Sabre-rattlers beware.
Aron Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM
I have seen this done, unfortunately losing a good deal of champagne in the process, because the person doing it utterly shattered two bottles, and getting glass shards all over our deck. Thankfully, no one was out there at the time, and he did accomplish it the third time. When he did it, I have to say, it was VERY COOL! A sure fire way to impress those of us with two X chromosomes, or maybe an X and a Y, if one happens to be of a certain persuasion, not that I'm implying anything. Stop persecuting me! HELP! HELP! I'M BEING REPRESSED! NOW WE SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM!
Sorry about that. I let my inner geek out of the cage for a moment there. BTW: This blog rocks. It's like a daily updated ROBB Report! Now if only I could afford even a single thing mentioned in either one....
Lump Lump Lump!
Captain Lumpy Dog
Finished.Law.School Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM
What prevents glass shards from making their way into whatever is sabered? Regardless of whether performed correctly or not it seems that there is a good chance that shards of glass will make their way into the bottle...
A B L Dec 18th 2005 6:02PM
#3 not really. When it works all you get as by-product are (1) the bottle and (2) the cork inside of a short glass 'ring'. The internal hemorrhage must be from something else. :-)