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.

Below is a brief summary of the bare essentials and some tips you ought to master if you want to bluff about Champagne:

• Champagne always comes from the Champagne region in France. This region is situated in the area of Reims. The better Champagnes mostly come from Reims, Epernay, Hauteville, Ay, Versus or Ludes. Real Champagne is controlled by the Appellation d'Origine Controllee (AOC). So don’t be fooled by Champagnes from South-Africa, Germany or California. These might taste rather good, but they can’t possibly be Champagne. It is however absolutely conceivable that some of these sparkling wines (also known as methode champenoise) are of better quality than an inferior Champagne. Nevertheless, as a verified bluffer one has to be opposed on principal alone.

• There are over 5400 Champagne suppliers. The biggest one is Mo?t Et Chandon (accounting for over 50% of the total world-wide production of Champagne).

• There are a few varieties of Champagne, namely: Extra-Brut, Brut, Extra-Sec, Demi-Sec (also known as Dry) and Doux. The difference is in the percentage of liqueur added to the original grape juices. The Brut and the Demi-sec are the best known of the lot. Variations are the Brut-rose and the Blanc de Blancs. The latter is a little harder to come by. Ladies and novice Champagne drinkers often prefer Demi-sec over Brut. The experienced drinker of Champagne however swears by Brut or Brut-rose. The bluffer obviously condemns the Demi-sec, since it has to be about the uncontaminated stuff, not any additives allowed.

• Champagnes are allowed to be made of two or three types of grapes: the red (yes, you are reading this right) Pinot Noir, the white Chardonnay and often a small part of red Pinot Meunier. The connoisseurs frequently prefer a subtle mix of the first two types of grape. The Pinot Meunier is usually only added to enhance the aroma a little which is, for the bluffer, a reprehensible matter.

• A Champagne made solely of Chardonnay is called a Blanc de Blancs. Goes very well with some fish, lobster or a few oysters.

• The prominent brands of Champagne you must at least know by name are:

Moet et Chandon: This mega factory supplies a constant and very good quality Champagne each year, by mixing Champagnes from other years. It’s actually not entirely fair since the grapes differ in quality each year. You would therefore expect a Champagne from 1988 to be better than one from 1990. As said, this doesn’t apply to Mo?t, unless you’re dealing with a Mill?sime/Vintage. The caves of M&C are in Epernay: having arrived there, you can have yourself driven around in a little train past 65 million bottles lying in wait for their time to come.

Pol Roger: Superb quality, can never go wrong!
Krug: Superior Champagne. Henry Krug only produces Vintage Champagnes, so only the best of the best.

• The grapes used for Champagne are hand picked, since a damaged grape can affect the color of the Champagne. They are pressed as soon as possible in immense presses that can contain up to 4000 kilo’s (8800 lbs.) of grapes at a time. The first pressing is called the cuv?e, the second one the premier taille. There is a third pressing, but this one is something a true bluffer will have none of. The cuv?e produces approximately 2000 litres (528 gal) of grape juice and has the best quality since later pressings are darker of color. This is why you will often find the phrase Cuv?e on the label.

• After the pressing any impurities are removed. The unwanted particles sink to the bottom of a steel or wooden vat in 12 hours. With a little intelligent draining off, you will be left with a pure wine which is hardly distinguishable from normal wine. Here comes the trick: the blending of the grape juices, the first fermentation in the vat, adding of liqueur de tirage (a mix of sugar, old wine and yeast) and the second fermentation in the bottle. The second fermentation can last up to five years. During the first three years the bottles are placed horizontally on lattes. After this resting period the bottles are put in a so-called pupitre and turned every day by a remueur (basically a fellow with extremely fast hands). During this second fermentation the residue settles in the neck of the bottle. By freezing the neck, and then taking of the cap of the bottle, the piece of frozen residue is removed. This is called d?gorgement.

• The bottled Champagnes remain in-between three and seven years in the caves before they will be sold. It is often true that the longer in the cave, the better the quality.

• The best Champagne corks are made of Portuguese cork.

• When the cork is in the bottle, it is held in place by a muselet (literally translated: muzzle) to prevent the cork from bursting from the bottle in an unexpected or unwanted moment. For their better Champagnes Bollinger and Princier still use string instead of wire muselets. Remember not to call these things caps.

• The pressure in a Champagne bottle can build up to 6 Bar (or 88 psi). For your reference: the pressure in a car tire is approximately 3 Bar or 45 psi.

• Champagnes that state a year on the label are Vintage Champagnes. As a rule these are of better quality than non-vintage Champagnes. The best ones are the Millesime Champagnes. These are vintage Champagnes of a perfect year. Well-known Millesime Champagnes are those from 1966, 1971, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990 en 1992.

• The better Champagne years which are readily available at the moment are 1985, 1988, 1990 and 1992, in regard of which you of course know that 1985 was of better quality than 1990. It goes without saying that you have had the 1985 Krug and/or Dom Perignon lying at home for ages waiting for that special occasion.

• With regard to glasses you obviously drink from a flute. This is a tulip shaped glass made of thin glass. The wide coupes are a definite no-no. The bubbles evaporate too quickly and the aroma can’t really be tasted properly either. The better class of flutes has a little drop of glass on the bottom of the glass. This makes the bubblies rise from the little drop. The bluff-factor will be impressive if you let it drop you are dealing with a true Champagne glass based on your observation of the little drop in the glass. There’s nothing like a crystal glass too. The structure of the glass is slightly rougher which brings out the bubbles better.

• Champagne is best consumed at 6 to 10 degrees centigrade (42-50F) (depending on the Champagne). In practice, this means taking a bottle from your supply and leave it in a cooler for 10 minutes. The ice bucket is half filled with ice and then topped off with cold water until it’s full.

• In decadent restaurants or bars, it has been known for glasses to be served with ice in them. The biggest blunder you can make is to launch your precious Champagne into those glasses filled with ice cubes! It will come across much more impressive to subtly inform the waiter that this trick is mere folly. Proper Champagnes glasses are made of thin glass, and the Champagne will therefore cool the glass, not the other way around. On the contrary, with chilled glasses, the temperature could drop below the desired 6 to 10 degrees C, killing the much coveted effect altogether.

• The “Traditional” way of opening a bottle of Champagne is another one of those things that could be done all wrong. The right way is to get rid of the foil surrounding the cork (just enough to clear the cork and muselet) and then untwist the muselet (save it for entering our annual Champagne Chair Contest). While doing this, you keep the bottle at an angle of 45 degrees pointed away from you (but preferably not in the direction of the lady accompanying you, that pretty painting by Monet, nor the chandelier). The trick is to get the cork from the bottle in such a way that a slight hiss is just audible. The easiest method is to gently twist the cork a little and as soon as it starts to give restraint with your hand. A loud pop is an absolute sin. Shooting the cork as far away as possible might be fun, but is viewed upon by the bluffer as utterly bizarre, as precious carbon dioxide is lost in the launch. If the bottle has (god forbid) been shaken too much during transport or something similar, it is possible that the Champagne will spontaneously start flowing from the bottle. For such an event you will naturally have the glasses standing by, thus preventing from too much of the divine stuff being wasted.

• If you really want to do it by the book, you should pour a glass in stages. First of all, the polite thing to do is to ask who would like to do the tasting. This person will be served a quarter filled glass. The filling of the glasses is done by holding the bottle at the back with your thumb in the inward curve of the bottom of the bottle or punt, (this might be a good time for a bluffer quote "One holds a bottle of red wine by the neck, a woman by the waist, and a bottle of Champagne by the derriere.") tilting the glass, and not splashing the Champagne into it. The latter in order not to let the bubblies evaporate during the pouring. On top of that, it prevents the mess that results from the glass overflowing if the filling is done too turbulently.

The person who does the tasting, and you can tell from his or her reaction whether you are dealing with a bluffer, novice or experienced Champagne drinker. If it turns out to be a Champagne lover of the experienced kind, you keep your bluffer self extremely quiet. If however the person in question is a fellow-bluffer or even a novice, the process of over-bluffing can begin. This can be an extremely entertaining enterprise but a subsequent (harmonious) continuation of the relationship might be desirable. Bluffing with your managing director or client could go wrong. After tasting and the exchanging of observed characteristics of the Champagne, the remaining glasses are filled. The correct way to do this is topping them up until they are no more than three-quarters full.

• Drinking Champagne must be done in style. Needless to say that the glass must be held by the stem. The first sip should be taken liberally. Keep the Champagne in your mouth and let some air in through pursed lips. This allows the Champagne to reach all parts of the mouth and now your tastebuds and tongue are in for a little party. While keeping your glass lifted up you admire the color and scrutinize the shape of the bubblies. You swallow the sip and savor the aftertaste. Your next step depends on the desired level of bluff. If you are in a brave mood, you could voice a few remarks on what you are tasting (or have read elsewhere on this page) and what you are observing regarding the color and or types of bubblies. You naturally holler something about the duration and flavor of the aftertaste. Cunning as you are, you had already inspected the bottle thus knowing whether you are dealing with a quality Champagne of some non-vintage concoction. Depending on this, you give a disapproving, favorable, or so-so opinion. The best (read: most impressive) thing you can do is of course to attribute a sensation to the Champagne that says something about the body, the character, the soul and the heart of the Champagne. Popular expressions are: sensual, charming, romantic, intelligent, zealous, passionate, ecstatic, unity, mystical, gentle. Make sure however that there are no experienced Champagne drinkers around, since these phrase are clearly defined in the Champagne vocabulary in terms of color, taste and bubblies. So if you are claiming that something tastes of orange blossom and is zealous at the same tame, your status as a bluffer is a dead give away for the true connoisseur.

• The following flavors, which you will no doubt be able to recognize unfailingly, can be found in Champagne:

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.

A special wine for celebration

Holy wine, from the beginning

A holy wine, from the beginning.  In early times, it was the monks who tended the vines to produce the sacred wine drunk during Mass.  A fortuitous combination of events ensured Champagne’s place in history.  Saint Rémi, bishop of Rheims, lived in a villa surrounded by vines, near where the town of Epernay now stands.  He converted Clovis, King of the Franks, to Christianity.  At the king’s baptism at Christmas in 496, he was anointed with Champagne wine, in the Champagne region.

Stepped in history

Between 898 and 1825 the kings of France were crowned in Rheims, in the heart of the Champagne region.  At the accompanying festivities, Champagne flowed freely. The wines were appreciated for their flavour and superior taste, and were offered in homage to any visiting monarchs to the area.  Both Francis I and Mary Stuart (later Mary Queen of Scots) received casks of Champagne on their travels through Rheims, while Louis XIV was offered several hundred pints for his coronation. 
From the 12^th century onwards, Champagne became increasingly well known and appreciated around the world.  The choice of the rich and important, it was accepted as the wine for celebrations.

Even the revolutionaries on Bastille Day, 14 July 1789, considered Champagne the appropriate wine to celebrate with on the Champ de Mars. Then a few years later, the statesmen and princes attending the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic wars, spoke of the omnipresence of Champagne.  The attendees all had a marvellous time: ‘their spirits sparkled like the wines of Champagne’ and it helped formed a bond between the participants.

Champagne wine has been featured at the signing of many important treaties, including Maastricht.  Queen Pomare of Tahiti ordered several cases of Champagne to mark the dedication of a pagan temple on her island.  Down the centuries Champagne wines have always featured prominently on the wine lists at Royal marriages.  At the Paris Exhibition of 1900, it made a spectacular appearance – by balloon.  Today, more than ever, people always call for Champagne when celebrating significant events.

Emotional times

Champagne is the wine of choice for launching ships – it has blessed the hulls of countless vessels, and it doesn’t matter if the ship was the Great Britain launched in 1843, the QEII in 1969 or someone’s sailing dinghy, called ‘My Dream’, launched just last week, it has to be Champagne.  It was there, of course, for the maiden flight of Concorde and the meeting of the French and English sections of the Channel Tunnel.

It was definitely served ice-cold on Annapurna when Maurice Herzog cracked open a bottle in triumph at climbing the peak.  In 1978, Pierre Mazeaud also drank Champagne on the summit of a mountain, this time it was Everest.  And following in the tradition of the early aviators, Jean-Loup Chrétien called for a glass of Champagne when he landed after his trip to the Soviet space station.

... and for good byes

Philip of Orléans was waiting in the Conciergerie to appear before the Revolutionary Tribunal in 1793, and knowing what his fate would be, calmly drank the ‘wine of kings’ – he could think of no better way to spend his last moments on earth.
After Napoléon had defeated the army of the Tsar at Smolensk, the local gentry consoled themselves with Champagne – ‘delicious even though French’.

And we will certainly be seeing out the old century and welcoming the new with a glass of Champagne.

Great occasions

Whatever the occasion, we have adopted the habit of celebrating with Champagne.  Take sports, for-example.  Winning teams toast their success in Champagne and who can forget the image of Grand Prix drivers on the winners’rostrum after the race celebrating their prowess with bottles of Champagne.