Sabrage
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Sabrage is a technique for opening a champagne bottle with a saber, used for ceremonial occasions. The saber is slid along the body of the bottle toward the neck. The force of the blade hitting the lip breaks the glass to separate the collar from the neck of the bottle. The cork and collar remain together after separating from the neck.
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[edit] History
This technique became popular 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 fearsome cavalry (the Hussar). 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. Napoleon probably encouraged this and is known to have said: "Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it."
There are many stories about this tradition. One of the more spirited tales is that of Madame Clicquot who had inherited her husband’s small Champagne house at the age of 27. She used to entertain Napoleon's officers in her vineyard and as they rode off in the early morning with their complimentary bottle of Champagne, they would open it with their saber to impress the rich young widow.
[edit] Champagne sword
A Champagne sword is an instrument used to open champagne on ceremonial occasions. The bottle neck is held at an angle of approximately 20 degrees and the sword is cast down on it. The experienced sommelier opens the bottle with small loss of champagne.
[edit] Physics of sabrage
A Champagne bottle holds a considerable amount of pressure. Early bottle designs used to explode and the manufacturers kept making them thicker until they could contain the pressure that is caused by the release of carbon dioxide during the fermentation. The inside pressure of a typical Champagne bottle will be around 90 pounds per square inch (620 kPa). The diameter of the opening is 0.7 inches (18 mm), so there is a force of about 35 pounds (16 kg) trying to push the cork out of the bottle.[citation needed]
At the opening of the bottle there is a lip that creates a stress concentration. On the vertical seam of the bottle the glass is not as uniform, which creates a second stress concentration. At the intersection of the seam and the lip, both stress concentrations combine and the stress will be more than half the strength of the glass. The impact of the saber on this weak point creates a crack that rapidly propagates through the glass fueled by the momentum of the saber and the pressure in the bottle. Once the crack has severed the top from the bottle, the pressure inside the bottle and the transferred momentum from the saber will send the top flying, typically for a distance of 5–10 metres (16–33 ft).
