Alton Brown on sabering bubbly

[Robin Garr]

He may be kidding, but I'm not. Personally I would NOT do this. Have any of you experienced the art of saberage?

http://youtu.be/qCp9-tEHa8U

[David M. Bueker]

Fun video. Never done it, but have enjoyed the results of it.

I've seen it twice at the Pinehurst Wine Festival but would never attempt it myself. Opening a sparkling wine in the more common manner is enough to spook me.

I've done this, but using a bayonet, not a sabre. I tried using a katana but it was too heavy for me to swing properly.

Yup.

I was at a winery party. They make methode champenoise sparklers and had a whole load of bottles that had failed quality control because there was still sediment in the bottle, so we were given a sabre and as many bottles as we wanted ...

The most important thing is to 'follow through' when you go down the seam.

After I got bored with the sabre I tried other implements, steak knife, dinner knife, butter knife, fork and lastly the foot of a champagne glass.

Enjoyable video, I've not come across him before.

Enjoyable video, I've not come across him before.

Agreed! Very enjoyable. Alton had a very entertaining cooking show a few years ago on The Food Network, titled "Good Eats". They are showing reruns on another cooking channel these days.

I have never done it myself, but I was at a house and saw a sparkling wine be "butter knifed" as opposed to "sabered." It just seemed like a waste of sparkling wine to me as there was significant spillage. His attempt to "flip-flop" a sparkler failed, however.

I've done this both with a real sabre and with a Chinese cleaver.

-Paul W.

Peter May wrote;
The most important thing is to 'follow through' when you go down the seam.

Absolutely!
With a fluent motion down the seam of the bottle “follow through after striking the annulus of the bottle- stop snickering!”

Salute

and to make sure bottle is really cold (like in an icewater bath)
I've done with chef knive (back side!), but seen it done with a teaspoon

My interest is certainly piqued!

Does it really only work on champagne due to a thicker bottle? Anybody ever tried it with sparklers that aren't champagne? If I'm going to try it out I certainly don't want to waste a good bottle of champagne should something go wrong...

Hi Alex,
Brown does a good job describing some of the “physics” behind “sabering”- pressure inside the bottle, the stress points created where the “annulus” (“stop snickering!”) (thick ring band at the collar of the neck) and the seam weakens the glass strength by almost fifty percent. The opening of the bottle being just under .750 (3/4) of an inch there is almost 36 pounds (160 newtons) of force trying to push the cork out. Basically any Sparkling wine bottle is a “bomb”.

Salute

Doesn't have to be Champagne, but does have to be reinforced/seamed bottle and full pressure bubbly.
Really very little wasted.
I think all winegeeks should do once, preferably around Hoke.

Anybody ever tried it with sparklers that aren't champagne? ...

As per my post, the bottles weren't Champagne but they were methode champenoise. I think you need that pressure. (they weren't cold either but in full sun.)

If I was going to demonstrate it I'd use a cheap Cava, but not a Prosecco.

I would think the warmer the sparkling wine the less gas it could hold, more gas in the “headspace”, the greater the force on the cork, the less force required for “sabering”. The “warmer” the sparkling wine the more “fog” or “cloud” one notices erupting from the opening.

Salute

I've seen it countless times, and done it myself. Got over the fascination shortly after the first time---which, yes, seemed cool when it was done at the Petite Trianon at Epernay with Moet-Chandon.

I have numerous seriously wine-geeky friends who get unaccountably giggly as little boys when they practice "sabering", and spending a goodly chunk on getting an artificial sword (that should not have a cutting edge to it, as the point is to whack the lip with a blunt piece of medal, bringing enough force to cleanly break of the top of the bottle.)

Seems entirely unnecessary, since every bit of training I've had tells me to ease the cork gently out of the bottle.

I had a meh attitude about bottle whacking---until some yobbo went out in my backyard on New Year's Eve, whacked the top off a very good bottle of champagne, and ended up depositing the flying bottle top, cork and cage and all, into the deepest part of my inground pool...and left me to dredge it out the morning after the night before.

How come I never get invites to your wild pool parties?

I would think the warmer the sparkling wine the less gas it could hold, more gas in the “headspace”, the greater the force on the cork, the less force required for “sabering”.

If I was going to drink the fizz after sabrage I'd have the bottle cold. But if I was going to drink it, I'd take the cork out the traditional way ...

But it was a very hot sunny day and the bottle were on a table in the sun, I wasn't drinking the fizz and I was very interested in seeing how far I could get those cork to fly

How come I never get invites to your wild pool parties?

Peter, no pool any more. But please know you have a standing invitation to my house, wild party or no.

(I almost met you at the AWS in Portland when we were both presenting--but it was at the same time, and I never got a chance to actually meet person to person. Always regretted that.)

(I almost met you at the AWS in Portland when we were both presenting--but it was at the same time, and I never got a chance to actually meet person to person. Always regretted that.)

Me too. That AWS was a blast, I had no idea what to expect and that exceeded on every count.

I'll be doing two sessions at the 2014 AWS Conference in Concord-Charlotteville, NC at very end October.

(I almost met you at the AWS in Portland when we were both presenting--but it was at the same time, and I never got a chance to actually meet person to person. Always regretted that.)

Me too. That AWS was a blast, I had no idea what to expect and that exceeded on every count.

I'll be doing two sessions at the 2014 AWS Conference in Concord-Charlotteville, NC at very end October.

Yes, it was fun. The audience was lively and interested and obviously having a good time appreciating the cognac that day.

I was invited to the NC gig as well, Peter; Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be able to make it. Have a great time.

As you might know, I've done it several times and have even forged my own champagne sabre. It is quite simply great fun. Once a mass sabering of bubbly (Freixenet cava) was organized here in Stockholm and 107 bottles were sabered "at the same time", i.e. within 10 seconds, and this number is the current world record according to Guinness World Records Ltd. These bottles were available since there had been a flaw in the corks that had not been waxed and thus were very hard to extract in the common way.

A comment to the fun video is that it is not at all needed to remove the cage. On the contrary, I prefer to keep it on since otherwise there is a clear risk that the cork gets loose before the actual sabering is performed. Furthermore, it is not really necessary to locate the seam and let the saber follow it. It works fine anyway.

An amusing way of sabering can be performed on magnum bottles since they are heavy enough to allow sabering a bottle which is standing up, without holding it.

Cheers,
Anders