The art of sabrage: in Italy the first “Sabrage Academy”, an idea by Francesca Negri

The “Sabrage”, a practice that tradition has it that was born in Napoleon’s France to celebrate the victories of the imperial army, is the opening of bottles of sparkling wine with sabers, and now it has its first “academy” in Italy. The journalist Francesca Negri created it, with the first courses in Trento ( on 5 September, at the restaurant Scrigno del Duomo) and in Bergamo ( on 19 September, at Al Carroponte) to discover and learn the art of Sabrage, its history and the extraordinary world of Champagne and other great classic method sparkling wines in the world, from Franciacorta to Trentodoc, from Cava to Méthode Cap Classique.

Two hours where, before discovering all the secrets of sabrage and receiving the “Sabreur Diploma”, it will be possible to discover stories and anecdotes related to both the Sabrage and the world of bubbles: how many bubbles there are in a glass of Champagne and why, who invented and when the choreographic muselet that holds the cap, who is the first to serve the wine at the table, how to hold the glass, how to toast, how to uncork a bottle of bubbles in the traditional way (one of the operations considered statistically more difficult, especially for women), and then the rules of Sabrage and then the practical training. Complete with a Sabrage Academy kit: a professional saber, Sabreur gloves and a bottle of Champagne A. Bergère, official partner of the Sabrage Academy, that after Trento and Bergamo, will be in Monza, Milan, Forlì and Catania, Rome, Verona, Florence and more.
At the end of the courses in Trento and Bergamo there will be a 4-course dinner with 3 Champagne A. Bergère, always included in the course fee.
“Sabrage Academy was born from the desire to spread the Sabrage rite, to make its meaning and value understood, in a historical moment in which the Sabrage has become mainly a show besides a “freak show””, explains Francesca Negri.