Sabrer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To open or cut open a bottle, often a champagne bottle, using a saber or sword; to perform a dramatic or ceremonial act of uncorking a beverage container; to cause the top of a bottle to be removed swiftly with a sharp edge
2. The act of slicing off the neck of a bottle with a long blade, typically during celebrations; to remove the cork or cap by striking with a saber; to skillfully open a bottle in a festive manner with a swift cutting motion
3. A method of beverage service involving striking the bottle's neck with a sword to open it; to elegantly separate the cork by slashing the bottleneck; to ceremonially uncork a sparkling wine bottle using a cutting instrument

Etymology: "Sabrer" is French, from "sabre," the cavalry sword, and the verb originally meant simply to strike or slash with a sabre. The "sabrage" technique, as it is usually called in English, is tied to Napoleonic-era cavalry officers who reportedly opened bottles of champagne this way at celebrations, slicing off the neck with a blow along the bottle's seam. The custom is often linked to the chaos of war and to the wine being poured for victory, though the exact circumstances are hard to pin down. The verb itself came into French from Italian "sciabola," and the Italian word traces back through Hungarian and German sources, reflecting the curved cavalry sabre favoured by Eastern European horsemen. The sword's name travelled widely across European armies, which is why the same root turns up in many languages for similar weapons. Champagne houses have long treated the practice as a showpiece, and the bottle's neck, where the glass is weakest at the internal ridge, is what makes the clean break possible. The method works because the blade strikes the seam at a slight angle, so the cork and collar come off together.

Synonyms: sabreur, swordsman, fencer, duelist, saber user