🍷 Sabrage

Sabrage is a way of opening a bottle of sparkling wine by striking the neck with a sabre. The tradition is tied to France and, according to legend, to the time of Napoleon: hussars, riding on horseback, sliced the necks off bottles with a sabre so as not to get off the horse. Today it is a spectacular trick for celebrations.

The principle is this. A bottle of sparkling wine is under high pressure. A seam runs along the glass of the bottle. If you slide the flat side of the sabre along the seam toward the neck and strike the ring under the cork, the neck together with the cork flies off under the pressure, and the wine stays in the bottle.

The bottle is chilled first so that the glass is strong. Champagne and other sparkling wines suit sabrage. You need a special sabre or even a knife with a blunt edge.

It is a dangerous stunt: the glass can shatter. It is best done only outdoors, wearing safety glasses and with an experienced person. For an ordinary meal it is simpler to open the bottle with a cork. Sabrage belongs to the rituals tied to wine and celebration.