I can't believe it's that time of year again and the Bon Terroir Wine Club is on to our third annual Champagne and sparkling wine tasting!
I'll have to give some thought to writing something that hasn't already been covered here before. See our notes from 2005 "Sparkling & Effervescent" and 2006 "A Champagne Brunch". Since I've already written a fair bit about champagne, I thought it would be interesting to look at the history of sabrage.
Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it.
The opening of champagne with a saber or sabrage apparently stems from Napoleonic times, whereby the technique gained popularity in France when the army of Napoleon visited many of the aristocrat domains. It was just after the French revolution and the saber was the weapon of choice of Napoleon's cavalry. Napoleon's spectacular victories across all Europe gave them plenty of reason to celebrate. During these parties the cavalry would open the Champagne with their sabers.
The process entails sliding the saber along the body of the bottle toward the neck along the seam in the bottle. The force of the blade hitting the lip separates the collar from the neck of the bottle. The cork and collar remain together after separating from the neck.
Don't own a saber? No worries, other utensils work equally well. My friend Bill Eggert with Fairview Cellars Winery opened a bottle of champagne for me with a butter knife. And amazingly you can use a champagne flute! (See this crazy youtube video!) I must admit that I'm not very adept at sabrage and it took me 15 tries last Christmas before I was successful. However practice makes perfect!
Detailed tasting notes for our evening to come...
RSVPs so far:
- Hamish & Joanna - Perrier Jouet Grand Brut & Mumm's Napa Sparkling paired with a side of salmon and platter of raw oysters
- Tannis & Rick - Duval Leroy Brut & sparkling TBD - food pairing TBD
- Lori & Mike - Larmandier Bernier Blanc de Blanc Premier Cru & Township 7 Seven Stars 2004 Sparkling - pairing TBD likely a homemade fruit dessert of some type
- Rob Z. & Carolyn - wine TBD paired with something chocolate related
- Ruth - Delamotte Brut Champagne paired with homemade gravlox
- David & Mandy - Gaston Chiquet 1998 Vintage Champagne
- Mina & Dirk - Bollinger NV & Blue Mountain Sparkling paired with lobster canapes
- Valerie & Laurent - Moet & Chandon and a Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs paried with a selection of French cheese
Maybes:
- Raistlin & LJ
- David H.
- Catherine & Joe
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