Few things are more intimidating to wine drinkers than opening a bottle of sparkling wine. The very act is fraught with danger: we’ve all heard horror stories of corks ricocheting around rooms, blinding people, or both. Even if you manage to keep the cork under control, it’s often a loud and disruptive event, and while at the right kind of party that can be fun, at other times it can be annoying or even outright scary. In fact, I’ve got a friend who cringes whenever I bring out a bottle of sparkling because of too many traumatic experiences.
So where does that leave us? Well, you can work on your technique. The safest way to open a bottle is to remove the foil and cage while keeping one hand constantly over the cork, and then slowly rotating the bottle as you ease the cork out. Or you could throw caution to the wind and embrace the trendiest and most fun way to open a bottle of sparkling—by sabering it.
First things first. Despite the dramatic name and end result, sabering does NOT involve actually cutting the top off a bottle of sparkling. Yes, sometimes people do it with big-ass swords, and yes, the neck of the bottle looks like it’s been cut, but that’s mostly showmanship. You can “saber” a bottle with a spoon, given the proper technique.
As with the more conventional method of opening bubbles, sabering relies on the internal pressure of the wine. The major difference is that instead of removing the cork, you exploit the fact that sparkling bottles are actually two half-bottles joined with a seam, and that seam is the weakest point of the bottle. Sabering exploits this fact to force the top of the bottle clean off, with a satisfying “pop” and sometimes an impressive ballistic display.
Be careful when trying this at home, but it’s not all that difficult. Make sure the bottle is very cold, and not the absolute cheapest bottle as those are often too flimsy to saber properly. Find the seam on the bottle, and then gently loosen the cage. I often like to loosely refasten it around the upper lip of the bottle, to ensure the cork doesn’t go flying off prematurely. From there, find a thin and somewhat solid “blade” (it can be a sword, a knife, a spoon, or even an iPhone) and run it firmly up the seam, striking the lip of the bottle at about a 45-degree angle. If done correctly, the bubbly should be flowing!
I like to saber outside, because it can be kind of messy, and I make sure to aim away from other people, breakable windows and skittish housepets. I recommend practicing a few times in relative private before you start trying to impress your friends or Tinder dates, but it’s a fun skill for wine lovers to master.
