Champagne Saber

J

Jasoncap

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May 1, 2017
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Hi all. I did a search but couldn’t find any info In this topic so I am posing this question for some help with a project I have been asked to do for a local wine rep. His wife asked me to make him a custom champagne saber as a Christmas gift and I am not 100% sure where to even start.

I’m thinking AEBL since it is stainless, tough, and fairly inexpensive. My tentative plan is to make it look like a small saber with a D guard. That’s about all I have figured out so far.

Have any of you made something like this in the past? I would love to get some input from everyone before I learn the hard way what will or won’t work.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
That’s actually a fair question. Sabering is another way of opening a champagne bottle using a knife to basically cut/push the cork off. Some companies make knife like objects (usually not very sharp) or mini swords for this purpose.
 
Ok. Aeb-l should work. Well, any modern stainless should work, but aeb-l is pretty tough and will be ok pressing against the glass of the bottle.
 
Sabering does not cut/push the cork off.

A champagne saber should be a stout short saber looking sword. 20" is plenty for the blade. The edge is fairly thick and has a high angle , probably about 45 degrees.

The sword is placed on the side of the bottle with the edge resting against the glass. It is quickly slid up the neck and struck on the rim below the cork. This will cause the whole end, glass cork and all, to break off. The expelled champagne blows all the debris away, and the champagne is poured into the glasses.

The bottle is usually wrapped in a towel.
The bottle must be pointed away from all people.
This should be done outside, and in a place wher the glass can be cleaned up.
Wear safety glasses.

Practice on bottles of the very cheapest champagne/sparkling wine. It will take about ten bottles to get the hang of it.

The sword can be simple, but should look like a short saber. The handle/guard should be firm and have a D-guard at the minimum.
A cheap way to make a champage saber is to buy a $100 replica saber and cut the blade down. If making one from scrach, use a simple tough steel like 5160. AEBL would be a good stainless choice.
 
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Thank you both for the input much appreciated. And thank you Stacy for a much better explanation of what it means to saber a bottle of champagne!
 
I recalled a few other things:
Chill the bottle to 32 degrees. Burry it in ice for an hour.
A flat edge works as well or better than a V edge for many people. Grind a 1/16" wide edge with sharp corners.
Run the blade down the seam of the bottle.
Don't stop as it strikes the rim, but continue the stroke out and up in a salute.
A large heavy bladed knife will also work, so it doesn't have to be a saber ... but it should.
 
OK, I saw the "champagne saber" and didn't have a clue. Did some searching and found good info..... THEN I read on down the thread and saw Stacy (as usual) had all the info. Only thing I can add is a link to this video demo'ing the act.
 
This seems to me to be a very silly thing. Clearly one sabres a champagne bottle for the drama, flare and fun. The act is fun and cool because it is wild overkill. A sabre is clearly an inferior instrument for opening a bottle, especially one of champagne. A knife with a d-guard for the purpose reduces the level of overkill and thus to my mind defeats the purpose. It seems far more grandiose to use a full sabre to open the bottle.
 
The saber isn't full size. It is a normal handle with a half ( or less) length blade. Many folks use the back of the knife/sword. Others use the edge. I don't think it really matters.

The act is purely for show. You tell the story of Napoleon/Cossacks/Huns/Russians/Germans/English/etc. raiding the French wine cellars and tossing the bottles to horseback mounted soldiers. They pull their sabers and slice the tops off, riding away drinking champagne from the razor sharp broken tops.
OK, so much for the ledged and lore hype. What sabering is used for is formal occasions where you want to pull out all the stops. Weddings and other special recognition ceremonies are when it is done. Anyone who sabers a bottle of Moet or Dom in their home for no reason is just being foolish.

BTW, it can also go horribly wrong … with a hundred people watching. There have been cases where the person makes ten or more tries and has to give up, ones where it takes several tries to succeed, and times when the bottle explodes in your hand.

I added wearing safety glasses to the previous info.

Seems I saw a thing once where a guy sabered a large beer bottle. I'll have to look that up.
Found it:
 
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I'd recommend just chilling the cork end of the bottle, not necessarily the whole thing. Also, don't forget to take the wrapper and the wire cage off.

Most people I've seen do it just use a large chef knife, and often, they use the back of the knife.
 
There actually is supposedly a reason for it. Apparently for very old champagne, the cord can become soft and if you try to pull it out you can break the cork and mess up the wine. So this method is used to open very nice champagne. That may be a load of bull but someone who is very into very old champagne told me that. He brings his saber to parties.
On another note, a ski can be used too. Don’t ask me how I know.
Every spring when the snow melts I have to go pick up a bunch of champagne bottle tops from my back yard...
 
Jasoncap said:
That’s actually a fair question. Sabering is another way of opening a champagne bottle using a knife to basically cut/push the cork off. Some companies make knife like objects (usually not very sharp) or mini swords for this purpose.
Click to expand...

Sabrage was traditionally done with the spine side of the sabre when using a sharp sword. The glass would of course dull the edge of a sharp sword.

There are modern sabres made especially for sabrage where one uses the edge side of the sabre to knock the top off the bottle but these do not have a sharp edge. Rather they have a thick rounded dull “edge” where the sharp edge would be. This thick dull edge can withstand the force of hitting the glass unlike a true sharp edge.

Properly sabrage is done with the spine side of the sabre though.

PS: Cold champagne is easier to sabrage. The cold glass somehow makes it easier. Remember to remove the foil and the wire cage!
 
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Daniel Swanson said:
There actually is supposedly a reason for it. Apparently for very old champagne, the cord can become soft and if you try to pull it out you can break the cork and mess up the wine. So this method is used to open very nice champagne. That may be a load of bull but someone who is very into very old champagne told me that. He brings his saber to parties.
On another note, a ski can be used too. Don’t ask me how I know.
Every spring when the snow melts I have to go pick up a bunch of champagne bottle tops from my back yard...
Click to expand...
There is no reason for it other than it looked cool and was a way for French troops to impress the ladies of the town they just conquered.

It should be noted that after sabrage the first ammount of the champagne should be allowed to overflow and bubble out to wash out any shards of glass. Even still I would check the first few glasses poured for any glass.

A bottle where the cork has decayed so much that it will disintegrate into the champagne is ruined anyway. Not that a thirsty French soldier wouldn’t drink it anyway but apparently even with normal wine a decayed cork ruins the flavour.

 
When I said "burry the botttle in ice", I meant to stick the bottles upside down in the ice chest. The neck has to be as cold as possible to make te glass break clean.
 
Sabered another bottle last night... it really is quite fun. Something about the fear of slicing off a finger makes the champagne taste better.
 
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