Sabrage, or chopping the top off a Champagne bottle was a
neat trick I learned years ago, and it can make a party come to life. Of course there are many stories about the
origins and showmanship around, and it never fails to capture the
imagination. It’s something I have done
many times, but in the last decade, I’ve refrained. It can be dangerous – I’ve had a bottle
explode in my hand. Glass splinters can
fly everywhere, but never into the bottle, so you can pour the remaining
contents to drink without worry. The
waste is my problem nowadays, as I’d rather drink the contents rather than see
it splashed out into the air.
The Young One and Jo-Lo presented a birthday bottle to
SWMBO, NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin ‘Yellow
Label’ Champagne. In a fit of
enthusiasm, sabrage was suggested. Out
came the sabre – well actually a heavy kitchen knife - off came the foil and
wire cage. Hmm, unusually, the seam on
the bottle where to run the knife was very indistinct…but nevertheless, we gave
it a go – with devastating results – the whole bottle shattered mid-point,
rather than at the top.
Was the poor quality of the bottle the reason? One of the thoughts that came up was ‘sur
latte’, purchased wine to fulfil the growing needs for VCP. The wine (that was remaining) tasted fine,
but not as characterful as what we expected.
Could this have been a sur latte bottle?
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