An Instructional Guide to Sabrage

Nothing embodies the New Year’s Eve spirit better than the obligatory Champagne toast at midnight. And if you’d like to be particularly festive this year, why not add some drama to popping open that bottle of bubbly by doing a little expert sabrage? It’s not too difficult… you don’t even need the ceremonial Champagne sword to do it. Any kitchen knife will do. Read on for a quick lesson in sabering and impress everyone with your technique!

The history of sabrage is debatable, but it most likely traces back to the French Revolution. The most popular legend has it that Napoleon’s troops, arriving home on horseback after victories, would be greeted by cheering locals and handed bottles of Champagne in appreciation. Since the cavalry didn’t have the ability to open the bottles while riding, they improvised and used their swords to pop off the tops of the bottles instead. This became a ritual, and gave rise to the “Noble Art of Sabrage.” 

How does this work? The saber does not slice off the top of the bottle. Instead, a firm tap at the meeting point of the glass lip at the top of the bottle just below the cork with a seam on the bottle, a result of manufacturing, pops the top off entirely. This meeting point is a weak point where two stress concentrations come together (the seam and the lip). When sabrage is performed on a suitably chilled bottle of Champagne, the cork and glass lip fly away, spilling little of the precious Champagne. The pressure inside a bottle of Champagne (100psi) ensures that no glass falls back into the bottle making it safe to drink the spoils.

So how does one perform sabrage like an expert? Follow these basic steps, practice on a few bottles, and voila! You will amaze friends and family with your skills. And remember, this technique works with any bottle of sparkling wine, not just Champagne…

1. Choose the right bottle. The most suitable is a young vintage or non-vintage, which typically have more pressure on the cork than older vintages. That being said, you can, with practice, saber an older vintage bottle as well.

2. Choose your weapon. You don’t actually need a “champagne sword” (which has a thin handle and a long, slightly curved blade). In fact, the blunt edge of a knife works much better. According to Sebastian Allano of the three-star Michelin restaurant Caprice in Hong Kong, “It is not the sharpness of the blade that cuts the glass, it’s the force of something hitting the rim of the bottleneck and the pressure from the bubbles inside.” Substitutes for the saber can range from a chef’s kitchen knife down even to a butter knife; in fact, experts can saber with a spoon!

3. Chill the bottle. This is important to prevent the bottle from bursting open before you get to saber it.

4. Locate the seam. Look for a seam in the glass that runs from top to bottom. Every bottle has two seams; either will do.

5. Remove the foil and cage. Don’t do this until you’re ready to go: Once the cage is off, you need to act quickly. Keep your thumb on the cork until you begin step 6.

6. Scrape the seam. Holding the knife in one hand and the bottle (pointing upward at a 45-degree angle) in the other, scrape the blunt edge of the knife vigorously along the seam of the bottle from the middle to just below the rim. This will increase the internal pressure.

7. Strike! Hit the blunt edge of the knife against the rim of the bottleneck firmly in one swift, straight movement… but a knock more than a full-force blow. You may need to do this a few times, depending on the bottle. Scrape the knife along the seam before each swing.

8. Keep a souvenir. Once the cork pops off, there should be a ring of glass — the “lip” of the bottle — still wrapped around it. It’s proof that you pulled off a perfect sabrage.

Good luck, and Happy New Year!

- Sarah