You can’t remember the movie, but you vividly remember the action. A man sliced the top of a champagne bottle off with what looked like a sword. Well, the sword was actually a saber and the action is called sabrage. And there is definitely an art to it. While technically anyone can do it, sabering does take expertise and a certain amount of confidence. To start, the bottle has to be perfectly chilled. And it should be carefully handled as well. Shaking the bottle around will only cause the bubbles to erupt.

But the real art is in the sliding of the saber back and forth along the seam on the neck of the champagne until with a final strike of the saber, the top flies off, cork intact. If the saber strikes the bottle incorrectly, it will splinter. There are two weak points and the sabreur must find the seam for it to work. Yes, there may be some glass that flies, but none that remains in the bottle. The pressure inside the bottle takes care of that. In fact the champagne pours much the same way had it been opened with hand. The only visible difference is that the edge of the bottle has a razor cut appearance.

There are only a handful people in the U.S. who hold what’s called the Diplome de Sabreur given by the Conferie du Sabre d’Or, the brotherhood of sabering in France. There are a couple of dozen more sabreurs who do it without certification, including Mondovino’s Mark Gmur.

There are many theories on how the tradition of sabering champagne bottles started in France, but the most colorful one involves Madame Cliquot. It seems the mistress of Champagne during Napoleons time enjoyed entertaining soldiers and as they left, Madame Cliquot gave out bottles of champagne. The soldiers would ride off, bottle in tow but unable to open the bottles in the usual way. They needed to keep at least one hand on the reins of their horse at all times. So with one hand on the reins, they drew their sabers with the other and with one quick slice, voila, bubbles on the go.
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