Here is a step-by-step guide to The Noble Art of Sabrage. If you follow these steps you will never fail to accomplish the task and do it safely*.

First, the bottle "MUST" be cold. Take a chilled bottle of champagne, not ice cold but suitable for drinking (in the fridge at least one hour prior to sabrage.)The ideal temperature is between 45-48°F or 7-8°C. Why? It is the pressure and the vibration that will "cut" the glass. A warm bottle has more pressure, which is begging for problems. A tip: Don't attempt to chill the bottle using an ice bucket as the most important part of the bottle (the neck area) is not being chilled properly.

Remove the foil to reveal the cork and wire basket. Carefully remove the wire basket (muselet) around the cork (bouchon).

Next, find one of the two seams along the side of the bottle nearest the annulus (glass lip just below the wire basket) by rubbing the tips of your fingers on the glass. At the same time, you should remove the foil, which could impede the sliding movement of the saber. (When you become an experienced sabreur, this step will not be necessary).

With your arm extended, hold the bottle firmly by placing the thumb inside the punt at the base of the bottle. Be sure the neck of the bottle is pointing up - about 30° from horizontal. Make sure no one is in your line of fire or that you are aiming at anything breakable…like a glass window, etc.** A safety tip: Drap a towel/linen napkin over the bottom portion of the bottle should the bottle explode. The towel will help to contain the glass.

Now, calmly lay the saber flat along the seam of the bottle with the sharp edge (either side works as well) ready to slide firmly against the annulus (glass ring) at the top. Your firm sliding of the saber against this ring is aided by the internal pressure of the bottle, so that the cork flies dramatically away and usually with one stroke of the sword.

When performed as noted above on a suitably chilled bottle of Champagne, the cork and glass ring will fly away, spilling little of the precious wine and leaves a neat cut on the neck of the bottle. Now, the Champagne is ready to be enjoyed. Not to worry, the internal pressure (100 psi) of the Champagne bottle always ensures that no glass falls back into the bottle making it safe for consumption.

As a further safety precaution, remember that the chilled bottle is most likely wet from condensation. As a result, the bottle becomes slippery and if you are holding the bottle by the neck, as usual, the bottle could slip in your hand and the severed glass neck of the bottle could cut your hand…it's happened to me more than once. So, when carrying newly sabraged Champagne bottle, be sure you hold it with the thumb in the punt (at the bottom of the bottle) and the remaining fingers underneath the bottle. When pouring and carrying larger bottles add your other hand at the neck area with a cloth towel for additional traction and leverage.

Huitieme: An eighth of bottle and barely a glass full.
Quart: Mostly served by airlines.
Split: (18.7ml or 6 oz or about 1 glass).

How fast is the cork traveling when it pops?

Between 30 and 50 mph depending on the size and pressure contained inside the bottle.

What is the pressure inside a bottle of Champagne?

The pressure reaches 6 atmosheres or about 90 pounds per square inch (psi).

What is the useful life of a grape vine?

Between 27 and 50 years. The vines usually start producing after 3 years.

Is Champagne really an aphrodisiac?

Yes and No. Like all alcohols, it makes you feel less inhibited, so that is associated with pleasure. It also has the advantage of being lighter so it doesn't make you drowsy.

Is Champagne an AOC (Appellation Origine Controlee) wine?

Yes, but it the only one that doesn't require this fact mentioned on the label...as do others.

How should Champagne be stored?

Champagne must always be kept lying in a cool place and well away from direct light. Why? The sparkle or bubble conservation demands this position.

How long does Champagne keep?



In ideal cellar conditions (around 50F), some fine Champagnes will keep for twenty or thirty years or more. However, it is not as long lived as a Burgundy or Bordeaux.

If you do not have the luxury of a cellar, however, the best place to store it is somewhere in the dark that has a constant temperature, as cool as possible. Then your timescale for keeping is very limited. The Champenois say that you should not keep Champagne for longer that it was cellared originally, so that means from two years for a non-vintage, and from three years for a vintage.

You may be lucky and not suffer from deterioration if you keep your Champagne outside a cellar for longer periods, but frankly, the better houses' Champagnes are well aged when you buy them, so why not drink up straight away?

How well does Champagne “travel”?

Champagne travels very well, even better than wine. The reason is that the cork has a very high density (its diameter is squeezed from 31 to 17 mm to fit the neck of the bottle) and that severely limits the entry of outside air. And since oxygen is removed during in-bottle fermentation process and replaced by carbon dioxide (the carbon dioxide gas is dissolved in the wine in order to produce bubbles when the bottle is opened). As a result, wine disruption is minimal during transport.

How much is Champagne worth?

There is not such a great market in the re-sale of Champagne as there is with quality Bordeaux or Burgundy wines, although certain wines such as Dom Perignon and Cristal from top vintages attract the attention of collectors all over the world. A collector would be very keen to know the provenance of a Champagne, i.e. where it has been stored since it left the cellars in Champagne. If it has been on your mantelpiece for the last few years, forget trying to sell it!

A friend in Paris told me this story a couple of years ago:

An old dear, a matriarch of the Taittinger family, was celebrating her 80th birthday. A party had been arranged at the Taittinger chateau in Reims. It was thought a good idea to toast her health with a magnum bottle of 80 year old Taittinger, "fresh" from their cellars.

The guests went silent as Claude, head of the household, reverentially opened this esteemed bottle. All eyes were on him as he eased out the cork and poured the first glass. He eyed it up, sniffed it, took a tiny sip...and quickly proclaimed: "I am pleased that Madame has aged far better than our Champagne!"

Apparently it was rubbish. And this from a bottle that had been in ideal conditions for 80 years. So if your friend is over 40, buy them something else! Consider an old Burgundy or Bordeaux which are somewhat longer lived than Champagnes. Older Champagnes can be bought at auctioneers such as Christie's and Sotheby's.

Does Champagne have vitamins or calories?

Yes! Those contained in the grapes and their yeast (vitamin B1 and C, etc). There are 100 caloriers in a 19 cl. or 6.42 ounce glass of Champagne.

How can I find out about a particular Champagne brand?

Most of the bigger houses now have their own websites. There are around 12,000 Champagne brands, yet we have only 20 or so websites listed. Who are the rest? They can be brands belonging to small houses who make wine from grapes from their own small vineyards.

They can be brands belonging to individual members of a co-operative: All the farmers in the co-operative take their grapes to a central pressing unit and cellar, where a Chef du Cave creates the wine. The co-op then sells the wine under its own brand(s) and the members all receive their share of the proceeds. But the members can also call off quantities of those same Champagnes to be labeled with their own brand, and then sold as their "own" wine. Some co-ops have 5000 members.

They can be Marque Acheteur (buyer's own) brands: The buyer of a supermarket like Safeway or Trader Joe's visits Champagne and orders thousands of cases from a Champagne house. It's the same blend as the Grande Marque Champagne, and will sit next to its clone on the supermarket shelf, but at a fraction of the Grande Marque price. So they give it a different label with a different brand name.

Many houses also have an "under brand". When a house has used the best wines for its top Cuvées, there is inevitably some left over after blending. This can be taille (third pressing), or just wine that didn't work out so well. Or maybe the house just wants to release some Champagne quickly to improve cash flow. They would not want to prejudice their established customers by selling under their recognized brand name, so they use a diiferent label. Often these wines are sold as "Comte de ....., Duc de ....., Marquis de ......" to give the customer the impression that a French Lord in his Chateau is disposing of some of his private cellar!

Which is the best Champagne?

The one that you enjoy the most. I would not presume to tell you which Champagnes you should enjoy, although I taste many every year during sabrages. So, I can tell you which ones suit my palate and which I feel are good value.

In the case of super-prestige and super-priced Champagnes like Louis Roederer Cristal, I believe many people are buying a dream as much as a drink, and their purchase of such wines is as much a fashion statement of conspicuous consumption as of a desire for fine Champagne.