How To Saber Champagne In 10 Steps (Sword To Use, Origins)

If you’ve seen master sommeliers in action smoothly lopping off the top of a Champagne bottle with a cavalry sword, you may be keen to get in on the action! 

This cool technique is called sabrage or Champagne sabering. It’s when you slide the blunt edge of a sword or saber along a bottle neck with force, making a clean cut. 

It’s a great party trick and a fun addition to ceremonial occasions like engagements, weddings, and even New Years Eve parties. We’ll share with you an easy step by step process to follow when performing Champagne sabering. We’ll also share how sabrage originated, the best sabre tool to use, and more.

How To Saber Champagne in 10 Easy Steps 

Follow these steps to saber Champagne at your milestone events:

1. Find The Right Location To Saber
2. Make Sure The Champagne Bottle Is Chilled
3. Get Your Saber Or Weapon Of Choice
4. Practice Your Champagne Sabering Swing
5. Remove The Foil And Wire Cage
6. Locate The Seam In The Bottle
7. Saber The Bottle
8. Check The Champagne For Splinters
9. Pour The Champagne
10. Get Rid Of The Champagne Cork

1. Find The Right Location To Saber 

Avoid trying to sabre your Champagne indoors. Instead, find a spot outdoors, away from people, buildings, and objects. 

This way, you can avoid an accident or severe injury from a flying cork or glass shards. 

For the same reason, always keep the bottle pointed away from yourself and others. 

2. Make Sure The Champagne Bottle Is Chilled

The colder the glass, the more brittle it becomes, making it easier to open with a saber. Additionally, a chilled bottle has less pressure built-up than a room temperature one, making it the safer option.

So, pop your sparkling wine bottle in the fridge for a few hours to chill it to about 38-42 degrees Fahrenheit.

Alternatively, you can submerge it in an ice bucket for at least one hour, so you have a cold bottle ready for sabering. 

3. Get Your Saber Or Weapon Of Choice

Have your weapon of choice ready, whether it’s a Champagne saber, sword, or knife. Just make sure it’s long, thin, sturdy, and made of metal. 

4. Practice Your Champagne Sabering Swing

Before you try to saber a Champagne bottle, practice your swing to become comfortable with the movements.

Your goal is to create a clean break by knocking the bottle open (not slicing it.)

5. Remove The Foil And Wire Cage

Once your bottle is suitably cold and your hands warmed up, remove the foil, wire cage, and metal cap from your bottle of bubbly.

Next, grip the neck and place your thumb on top of the cork until you’re ready to saber. This will ensure the cork doesn’t fly out prematurely. 

Alternatively, don’t completely remove the wire cage — once you’ve removed the foil, you can reposition the cage to the bottle lip to prevent the cork from flying out. 

6. Locate The Seam In The Bottle

Look for the bottle’s vertical seam around the neck — this is the weakest part of the bottle. 

The seam should be facing you during the sabering process. Your blade needs to always be in contact with the seam as this is where you’ll be sabering.

Now, hold the bottom of the bottle with your non dominant hand at a 45 degree angle, pointing it away from your body. 

7. Saber The Bottle

Using the blunt edge (not the sharp blade) of the Champagne saber or knife, slide it along the seam making your way to the top of the neck. Then, hit the lower lip part firmly in one smooth motion for a clean break.

It should break away between the seal and the bottle lip, opening the bottle!

8. Check The Champagne For Splinters

Pour a little bubbly into your glass to check for any glass shards that may have gotten in. 

If you see any, just strain them out before serving your guests.

9. Pour The Champagne

Now you’re ready to pour Champagne into a flute wine glass!

10. Get Rid Of The Champagne Cork

Before settling down to enjoy a glass of bubbles yourself, make sure you pick up the cork and any shattered glass that flew out during the sabering. You wouldn’t want anyone to have an injury!

Now that you know how to saber a Champagne bottle let’s find out some interesting facts about this cool technique.

Interesting Facts About Sabrage

Here are some must-know facts about sabering Champagne:

• How Did Sabrage Originate?
• What Type Of Tool Do You Use For Sabrage?
• What’s The Science Behind Sabering?
• What Type Of Champagne Bottle Do You Use For Sabrage?

How Did Sabrage Originate?

Sabrage dates back to the French revolution when Napoleon Bonaparte’s soldiers would sabre open Champagne with a ​​cavalry sword, irrespective of victory or defeat.

Madame Clicquot entertained Napoleon’s officers at the Veuve Clicquot estate. 

When the soldiers rode away, they would saber the complimentary bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne she gave them in an attempt to impress her. 

After this, the tradition grew popular in Europe and spread across the world. For example, in 1904, John Jacob Astor IV, the founder of St Regis Hotel New York, began sabering Champagne bottles every evening to celebrate the end of each day. 

What Type Of Tool Do You Use For Sabrage?

Historically, a saber or Champagne sword is used to lop off the top of the bottles. 

A Champagne sword has a 12-inch blade with dull edges and an intricately decorated hilt.

However, if you don’t have a Champagne sabre, you can also use a long, metal tool that has a blunt edge like:

• Chef’s knife
• Fox knives
• Butter knife
• Spoon

What’s The Science Behind Sabering?

A Champagne bottle has a lot of bubbles, so pressure builds up inside the bottle, pushing against the cork. 

When you saber a bottle, you create a small crack at the top of the glass bottle. This releases the pressure in a powerful burst, completely removing the top of the bottle. 

What Type Of Champagne Bottle Do You Use For Sabrage?

Pick a bottle from the Champagne region or any other sparkling wine. 

Generally, the French and Spanish sparkling wine bottles are preferred over the American-made ones. The former bottles are thicker and are less likely to shatter and splinter when sabering.

Impress Your Loved Ones With Your Sabrage Skills Now!

Whether you’re impressing loved ones at a New Years Eve party or treating your guests to a fun, unique experience at a celebratory afternoon event, sabering Champagne will undoubtedly turn heads. 

Just make sure you follow through on each step for a safe, enjoyable time.

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