55.0°,
Fair The unkindest cut at the Coral House
Saber-wielders fail to break record in New Year’s bid to slice open wine bottles
When it was all over, all anybody wanted was a drink.
For the second year, a team from the Coral House attempted to set a record in Champagne sabering for the number of bottles sliced open by a saber, but there was no joy this New Year’s Eve in Baldwin.
Frank Esposito, general manager at the catering company, took up the ceremonial saber first in an effort to beat his record from last year, 51 bottles of sparkling wine opened in one minute. Unfortunately, he only made it to 50 bottles.
Then newcomer Matthieu Yamoum stepped up to the plate, er, bottles. A native of Champagne, France, Yamoum said he grew up just blocks from the Veuve Cliquot factory and learned how to saber bottles open at the age of 15. But Yamoum, who now lives in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, also failed; he opened only 36.
“Better luck next year,” a disgruntled Esposito said after his stab at success failed. “Whether he [Yamoum] beats me or not, I didn’t beat my number from last year, so I’m not happy.”
The current record, according to Guinness World Records, is 66 bottles, set in August by Ashrita Furman in Jamaica, Queens. The Coral House used bottles of Veuve du Vernay sparkling wine, rather than the traditional Champagne in its effort.
The technique became popular in France during Napoleon’s crusades across Europe when the emperor gave his cavalry officers Champagne in celebration of victories. The officers would then use their swords to ceremoniously behead the bottles, according to Coral House experts. Napoleon, a lover of fine wine and Champagne, is famed for the quote: “Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it!”
