This site is being rebuilt. Please come back later. In the interim please find some basic background Champagne information below:
Sabrage

 
The time honoured art of "Sabrage" or "Le Sabrage" or "Sabre à Champagne" (Opening a bottle with a sabre) is the most traditional way to open a bottle of Champagne. Dating back to Napoleonic days it involves using a sword to cleanly slice the end & cork off a bottle. The technique does not specifically involve extracting the cork, but actually removing the whole top of the bottle. The art is still practiced today in public as well as traditional organisationa including the Military.
 
History of Sabrage
 
There are many stories on how the tradition of sabrage started. One of the most spirited, is that during Napoleon's time, Madame Clicquot who was Mistress of the Veuve-Clicquot Champagne house had a habit of entertaining soldiers at her vineyards. Upon leaving, she gave them bottles of Champagne. As the soldiers rode off on horseback they were unable to open the bottles, so whilst keeping control of the horse they drew their sabres and beheaded the bottle with a stroke of the blade.
 
 
Method of Sabrage
 
The club takes no responsibility of any of the following instructions, and believes that sabrage should only be conducted by persons properly trained and recommend caution unless you are experienced at the art.
 
1) Slowly chill and rest the bottle and the neck evenly for at preferable 24Hrs beforehand, miniumum of 4 hrs.
2) Remove the foil and the muselet.
3) Look for the seam in the bottle, place the sabre edge against the seam just below the shoulder of the top
4) Hold the bottle at 40 degrees away from yourself, with clear space in front
5) Sweep the sword briskly and firmly across the bottle to the cork neck in a swift motion.

Note: The sabre doesn't actually chop the end off. When it slides down and strikes the lip on the neck of the bottle (annulus), it causes the end & cork to separate from the neck.
 
 
Sabrage by the Club
 
The Club has an extensive collection of Sabres, each requiring a different technique to perform Sabrage. The Club has sabraged hundreds of bottles and taught many people, The Club recommends the Sabres purchased from
The Champagne Lounge Ltd
 

 

History of Champagne
 
The Name Champagne is derived from the Latin campangna meaning open field. In Old French this was Champaign, which is now known in modern French as Champagne. Some of the earliest documented viticulture is as early as 79 A.D. in the Roman Era.
 
Sparkling Wine was first documented to be produced by two millenniums ago. by Romans vintners. In the 1st century AD, the Roman poet Lucan described the techniques of how the Romans were fermented grapes twice to a wine full of "bullulae" - bubbles It was even drunk at the banquet, by Julius Caesar & Cleopatra. Virgil's Aenid included the words: "ille impiger hausit spumantem pateram..." - "he drank, at a single gulp, a glass of sparkling wine..."
 
Sparkling Champagne was first documented to be created by the English - yes it's true - up until the end of the 17th Century, the wines from the region of Champagne were basically a non-sparkling murky rosé colour and the English deliberately changed them to make them bubbly. On the 17th December 1662 at the Royal Society in England, Dr Merret stated that they were making the wines in their cellars "Brisk & Sparkling".
 
In 1676 Sir George Etherege mentioned the words "Sparkling Champaign .... makes us frolic.... and drowns all sorrows". The first French document that mentions sparkling Champagne is from 1718, which mentions the rise of the drink some 20 years earlier. The reason for this is that the French did not have at the time very strong glass that the English did, this combined with a good quality cork from Spain then enabled the French to take up production of Sparkling Champagne.
 
The Monasteries created the first sparkling Champagnes produced by the French, which were the result of an accident. These were perfected through the combined efforts of the monastic orders of Pierry and Epernay. Each of the monasteries' now famous cellarmasters, Frère Jean Oudart (1654-1742) and Dom Pierre Pérignon (1639-1715) were key to the development of modern sparkling Champagne.
 
First Champagne Houses were started in the beginning of the 18th century. Ruinart is considered the first being founded in 1729. Some of these earliest houses hired German salespeople whom later founded their own firms (including Krug & Bollinger).
 
The Nineteenth Century saw the rise of the major houses, with expansion in to Europe and the Americas. This was the era of one of the most famous houses, Charles-Camille Heidsieck, better known as 'Champagne Charlie' who in the 1850's toured America with his flamboyant lifestyle introducing the Americans to Sparkling Champagne, in the process getting caught and involved in smuggling during the American Civil War.
 
For nearly a century and a half after that the Champenois responded to the considerable growth in the demand for the sparkling Champagne, perfecting the method.
 
The Twentieth Century started badly for the Champenois, in December 1908 the delimitation of the ‘Champagne Viticole’ became official, where the definition of the Champagne geographic area was defined. Unrest and struggle followed for three years with import and blending of other wines with Champagne wine, culminating in the Champagne Revolt & Riots in late 1911. This forced a change in the French law repealing the 1908 law, but this cause more internal struggles until a new law was finally passed in 1927 settling the Champagne region dispute.
 
The First World War was a disastrous time vineyards became battlefields, and cellars were emptied. A major Champagne consumer had been Imperial Russia (Especially for Louis Roederer Crystal & Champagne Napeleon), though this market disappeared following the revolution in 1917. Then followed Prohibition, with the economic depression left few buyers for luxury goods.
 
During the Second World War the vineyards once again became battlefields, luckily some of the cellars bricked up false walls, saving some of the best vintages. The area only just escaped destruction by the Nazis as they retreated at the end of the War. Since the since the end the War, Champagne has had to rebuilt itself, which it has achieved admirably. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) was formed in 1941, and has since administered production of regulations for Champagne and also promotes Champagne around the world.
 
The Twenty-First Century 2001 what better way to start the Millennium than with Champagne.

 
Serving Champagne

 
Chilling Champagne
Chilling Champagne in the freezer will ruin their aromas and flavours. Younger Champagne is best served at about 8°c (46°f). Vintage Champagne is perfect at 10°c (50°f).

Chilling Methods:

1) Champagne bucket: A cellared bottle should take about 20 minutes to chill in a bucket filled with ice & cold Water.
2) Refrigerator: Three or four hours on bottom shelf before serving
3) Ice-Pack: Specially designed for the Champagne bottle "Rapid Ice" Packs are available which can cool a bottle in 5 minutes from Vacu-Vin.

Opening Champagne
 
When opening Champagne (unless you are an expert at Sabrage) firstly remove the foil around the top - do not remove all the foil around the neck, just enough to open the bottle. Next undo the muselet (wire-cage), then whilst holding the bouchon (cork) in the palm of your hand, twist the bottle holding it at the bottom with your thumb in the punt (base) and cupping the the bottom of the bottle with the rest of your hand. The neck of the neck of the bottle is often wrapped with a clean linen towel, ( to prevent fly-away corks!)
 
The cork as it comes out it will give you an indication of the age of the Champagne. A Gentle hiss and quite pop can indicate how long the Champagne has been in the bottle and resting on the cellar rack. The shape of the cork, if flared at the bottom indicates the bottle is fresh. If the cork were tapered and straighter, this would indicate that the bottle is older.
 
It is not necessary or required to hear a big 'pop' when you open the bottle as this wastes bubbles. The lack of bubbles may also indicate an older champagne, though this does not necessarily mean that the champagne is undrinkable, just more mature.
 
Champagne Glasses
Champagne is best served in long stemmed "tulip" champagne flutes. This allows the bubbles space to form and rise to the surface giving off the full flavours of the Champagne. The Champagne "saucer" glass (legend to be modelled from the bosom of Marie-Antoinette) is not ideal as there is insufficient space for the bubbles to rise, and some of the aromas are lost too soon. Ideally use crystal, as the texture of the surface is rougher than ordinary glass, therefore more bubbles should form in the flute. The Glass should be held by the stem whilst drinking and not the main body of the flute. This allows the heat to dissipate and lessens the chance of your glass of Champagne being warmed-up by your body heat.
 
Pouring Champagne
 
To pour Champagne correctly hold the base in one hand with the thumb in the punt with your fingers spread out around the base of the bottle ( as when opening the bottle). The neck of the neck of the bottle should be wiped and wrapped with a clean linen (to prevent dripping on the individual). Firstly, etiquette requires asking if anyone would like to taste first. This person's glass should be a quarter filled. Upon acceptance then "Charge" each of the glasses by pouring a little into each, allowing the champagne to settle. Then go around again and finish pouring to fill the glass.
 
 
Serving Champers Underwater
 
Ok - This is the only time you are allowed to drink from the 'bottle' and not by a glass - (Yep I've actually drunk Champers underwater - Its really quite a buzz! But attempt it at your own risk). Basically its best if you have some SCUBA gear as that way you can stay down drinking longer & carry some extra weights to keep you on the bottom. When you are underwater, open the bottle and immediately put your thumb in the top. Then taking your regulator out drink form the bottle gently blowing air back into it, when you have had a drink immediately put your thumb back in else the water will rush into the bottle and will all go to waste. It takes a bit of time to get use to but can be done.
 
 
Bottle sizes
 
Champagne is bottles in 10 standard sizes; most common are the standard "bottle" and the "magnum". The history of why larger format bottles are given biblical names is not exactly certain. Though it is said that winemakers in Bordeaux had used the name Jeroboam for the four-bottle size since 1725. It is said that they selected Jeroboam, the biblical founder of Israel, who ruled in 931-910 BC because he is referred to as "a man of great worth", as the larger size bottles are also valued at a great worth. Also Champenois poet of the middle ages, Eugene Destuche, mentioned several of these biblical names in his poetry.
 
Quart de bouteille (Also called Quart*, Quarter, Quatre, Split or Piccolo bottle, refers one fourth of a bottle *Note: Not the American Quart which is 0.946 liters / 32 fluid ozs); 18.7cl / 6.3 fluid ozs
Demie bouteille 37.5cl / 12.7 fluid ozs
Bouteille Bottle 75cl / 25.4 fluid ozs
Magnum (From the latin for "great") (2 bottles) 1.5 litres / 50.8 fluid ozs
Jéroboam (Founder and first king of Israel, 931-910 BC) (4 bottles) 3 litres / 101.6 fluid ozs
Réhoboam (King of Judah, 922-908 BC) (6 bottles) 4.5 litres / 147 fluid ozs
Mathusalem (Methuselah, Biblical Patriarch who lived 969 year old) (8 bottles) 6 litres / 196 fluid ozs
Salmanazar (Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, 859-824 BC) (12 bottles) 9 litres / 304.8 fluid ozs
Balthazar (Balthasar, Regent of Babylon, one of the 3 Wise Men, 539BC) (16 bottles) 12 litres / 406.4 fluid ozs
Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, 605-562 BC) (20 bottles) 15 litres / 508 fluid ozs
 
Even rarer are specalised non standard bottles of other size bottles that are made for special occasions, these include:
 
Salomon (Solomon, King of Isreal, 970-928 BC) (24 bottles) 18 litres / 609.6 fluid ozs
Sovereign (Requires confirmation as speculation about this size and name) (33 & 1/3 bottles) 25 litres / 86.66 fluid ozs
Primat (36 bottles) 27 litres / 914.4 fluid ozs
Melchizedec (Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought bread and wine to Abraham) (40 bottles) 30 litres / 1016 fluid ozs
 
And finally:
 
Pint bottle 0.600 litres / 20 fluid ozs
Made for Sir Winston Churchill by Pol Roger, sereved to him by his manservant each morning at 11 am.
 
 
 
"Remember gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!" (Winston Churchill)