Sabrage and English Sparkling Wine
I was going back through my photos from 2017 trying to see what might be relevant to post on a blog about English sparkling wine. It seems I didn't actually visit any vineyards in 2017. This didn't mean my interest had waned at all, I just didn't get round to any more vineyard tours this year for one reason or another.
However, on a tenuously relevant note, one thing I did discover in 2017 was sabrage. This essentially came about as a result of a mid-winter slump, when I was feeling a bit bored and miserable of a winter evening, and wondered what random thing I could buy on the internet to cheer myself up.
So here I am in January 2017 looking rather idiotically pleased with my new sabre:
The first bottle I tried it out on was a bottle of Nyetimber. I was confident that this would work just the same as a Champagne bottle given that Nyetimber, like most English sparkling wine, undergoes secondary fermentation in bottle per the traditional method and uses the same style of bottles as used in Champagne. I believe it is possible with Charmat method sparkling wines (e.g. Prosecco), but I would imagine is a bit more prone to failure / accidents given the lower pressure in the bottle, and the different bottle designs (and possibly weaker glass?).
I spent some time researching the appropriate technique before actually having a go at it, keen to minimise the risk of this already quite stupid pursuit: you're using one pointy, dangerous thing in one hand to break another soon-to-be-sharp dangerous thing you're holding in your other hand.
The key things seem to be to make sure the bottle is adequately chilled (this ensures the glass is brittle, and breaks more easily), and to be sure to slide the blade along the seam of the bottle, to where it meets the collar. This is a weak point, and with just a modest amount of force the top should pop off. Oh and obviously, make sure the bottle is pointing away from you and everyone else. It's probably best done outside.
One thing which might not be immediately obvious about the Champagne sabre is that it's blunt - you can hold the blade with your hands. Sabrage doesn't slice off the top of the bottle, it's about striking that weak point and causing a crack, which the natural pressure inside the bottle then propels off. It is a bit easier with the sabre, given the weight (and possibly the leverage?), but I've managed it with a spoon, and a friend went one better and used a soup ladel.
Here's a video of my first foray into this ridiculous pastime. Note the extremely cautious use of eye goggles:
For posterity - that first bottle of Nyetimber post sabrage, and the head:
I quickly gained confidence and soon was performing sabrage quite a lot. It's an odd ritual really, and obviously completely impractical, but I find it very satisfying indeed. Here's some collections of heads I sabraged over the course of 2017 (the observant among you will spot not all of these are English sparkling wines!):
One more video of me doing sabrage, from July 2017, by which point I had become a bit blasé about it:
However, on a tenuously relevant note, one thing I did discover in 2017 was sabrage. This essentially came about as a result of a mid-winter slump, when I was feeling a bit bored and miserable of a winter evening, and wondered what random thing I could buy on the internet to cheer myself up.
So here I am in January 2017 looking rather idiotically pleased with my new sabre:
The first bottle I tried it out on was a bottle of Nyetimber. I was confident that this would work just the same as a Champagne bottle given that Nyetimber, like most English sparkling wine, undergoes secondary fermentation in bottle per the traditional method and uses the same style of bottles as used in Champagne. I believe it is possible with Charmat method sparkling wines (e.g. Prosecco), but I would imagine is a bit more prone to failure / accidents given the lower pressure in the bottle, and the different bottle designs (and possibly weaker glass?).
I spent some time researching the appropriate technique before actually having a go at it, keen to minimise the risk of this already quite stupid pursuit: you're using one pointy, dangerous thing in one hand to break another soon-to-be-sharp dangerous thing you're holding in your other hand.
The key things seem to be to make sure the bottle is adequately chilled (this ensures the glass is brittle, and breaks more easily), and to be sure to slide the blade along the seam of the bottle, to where it meets the collar. This is a weak point, and with just a modest amount of force the top should pop off. Oh and obviously, make sure the bottle is pointing away from you and everyone else. It's probably best done outside.
One thing which might not be immediately obvious about the Champagne sabre is that it's blunt - you can hold the blade with your hands. Sabrage doesn't slice off the top of the bottle, it's about striking that weak point and causing a crack, which the natural pressure inside the bottle then propels off. It is a bit easier with the sabre, given the weight (and possibly the leverage?), but I've managed it with a spoon, and a friend went one better and used a soup ladel.
Here's a video of my first foray into this ridiculous pastime. Note the extremely cautious use of eye goggles:
For posterity - that first bottle of Nyetimber post sabrage, and the head:
I quickly gained confidence and soon was performing sabrage quite a lot. It's an odd ritual really, and obviously completely impractical, but I find it very satisfying indeed. Here's some collections of heads I sabraged over the course of 2017 (the observant among you will spot not all of these are English sparkling wines!):
One more video of me doing sabrage, from July 2017, by which point I had become a bit blasé about it:
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