Open a bottle of fine champagne the way Napoleon’s officers did
There are a few ways to uncork champagne. You can merely pop it the usual way, shake it until it explodes or open it with dramatic flair with a sabre.
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore introduces The Art of Sabrage at the Chihuly Lounge, with the purchase of a bottle of Dom Perignon for $488. We tried our hand at this traditional technique, and it’s much easier than you’d think!
The Trick to Sabrage
A traditional and ceremonial technique of opening a bottle with a sabre, sabrage was popularised during the French Revolution by Napoleon’s army. Now, it is an uncommon way to commemorate and celebrate victorious and joyous moments.
We were told that the trick is to find the weak spot of the bottle. The two weak spots lie at the lip near the opening and along the vertical seam.
At the intersection of the seam and lip, the stress concentrations combine, and the glass strength is reduced by half. This means if you run the sabre along the seam swiftly, it detaches the cork.
It sounds easy enough but you need stable hands as the bottle and the sword are quite weighty. What we did not expect was the entire neck of the bottle slicing cleanly off and flying away with the cork when the pressure escaped from the bottle. No shards would fall into the champagne.
If you want to learn the art of sabrage to impress your friends, open your own bottle of Dom Perignon with this classic move. You may consider this for your wedding in the future but first practice at the Chihuly Lounge. You’ll also get a Commemorative Certificate as a token of your skilful achievement.
Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore, 7 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039799, Tel: 6434 5179
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