There has been a video that people have viewed far too many times of me trying to saber a bottle of sparkling Clos Pepe wine shortly after the conclusion of the Wine Bloggers Conference in Buellton, California last month.
Despite my numerous successful attempts (including several at the WBC), it is likely that I will forever be remembered for this one failure (although I have not watched the video all the way through, it was apparently memorable).
Here was my first ever attempt using a wine glass:
Feeling a bit, well, um, inadequate when it came to sabering after the fail at Clos Pepe, I decided at the spur of the moment to saber the bottle of sparkling I had brought in to celebrate my last day at work. Deciding to saber at the spur of the moment is never a good idea and doing it at work is even sketchier, but hey, I was going for it.
I looked around my office for something to do the job. After considering a ruler (too light), a stapler (too easy), and a wireless keyboard (too expensive), I decided on this:
A 3 inch tall statuette of Ganesha, a Hindu deity, that was given to me by a good friend of ours after she had returned from a trip to India. It was a bit of a risk since it was rather small, but it has some good weight to it and after I read on Wikipedia that Ganesha is the god of beginnings and he is honored at the start of ceremonies and rituals, I figured he was the natural choice to help me get some of my sabering mojo back.
So without any further ado:
the drunken cyclist 
I think that this could become a thing like Sundays for Seb and the Ohmygod chronicles: “Sabering Saturdays” and you just try and saber sparkling wines with different objects.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Also, showed this to my mom and her first response was “that guys looks like a geek…but in the sort of way you’d get along with, Jaleh.” Her second response was “I don’t think this will end well.”
LikeLike
Um, thanks Momma Foodie?
LikeLike
Momma Foodie calls me a geek all the time… so I would take that as a compliment.
LikeLike
This is an excellent idea! Now how do I keep it from my wife (she is not a huge fan of the sabering thing for some reason)?
LikeLike
I don’t know why, but I had problems sabering with the glass as of late. I was very successful last year with 3-4 bottles, but then I broke two glasses, cut my hand and really had no success. Last time, in June, I started with the glass again, understood that it is not going to happen, so I simply used the back of the kitchen knife to complete it effortlessly 🙂
Ganesha didn’t look like an ideal sabering tool to me…
LikeLike
I found that the bottle needs to be really, really cold and the more effervescence, the better—don’t ever try it with Prosecco, for instance….
LikeLike
Yes, I heard somewhere about the temperature. Good point about prosecco- might be guilty as charged with one of the fails…
LikeLike
That video has more dramatic tension than an episode of the Sopranos. Thank goodness there was a happy ending. Bravo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmm, how to work the Sopranos into the next video….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sooooo doable….just add a waiter, goomah, wiseguy and a table at Nuovo Vesuvio. Someone will get sabered at the end of the night for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLike
I like your comment, “I’ve failed before, so its not bad” Life is all about failing and getting back up in order to be successful! Pretty cool sabering and probably the first to saber with a Ganesha. Maybe you have started a new trend.
LikeLike
Yeah, I think I am on top of the Ganesh saberers at this point.
LikeLike
A couple months ago I bought the impulse buy of the decade – an 18 inch machete for four bucks at discount took store. Weeding is so much more fun. That should work with bubbly, right? (Then after finishing the bottle I can go back to swinging it around like a madman)
LikeLike
You would saber like a hit man with that thing!
LikeLike
How fun! I’ve read a few blogs about your sabering escapade at Clos Pepe. Thank you for sharing your videos. I’ve never seen it done before. Very cool! Perhaps next year I can witness your sabering skills first hand. Cheers!
LikeLike
Many of the people at Clos Pepe can still say that they have never seen it done before either!
LikeLike
Oh ha! I thought for sure that would be a fail, but you pulled it off last second! Bravo!
LikeLike
I was 90% sure that FAIL was in the building and coming up the elevator….
LikeLike
All hail, Ganesha! 😋 Bravo to you both!!
LikeLike
I realized halfway through that I was praying to the wrong god….
LikeLike
Well done, Jeff. Congratulations! You are making solid progress with your coordination skills my friend.
But, really, this does not compensate (at all) for the five minutes you chipped away at that poor Clos Pepe sparkling wine bottle. So hilarious. The taunting and cheering was the best part. I recorded two minutes of video of the Clos Pepe sabering fail if you’d like it for the ol digital scrapbook. 😉
Cheers!
LikeLike
At some point, I will have to actually watch that video….
LikeLike
Laughing out loud over this. It seems like something guys love to do (heh, heh). I would never dream of wasting a glass of good bubbly that way!
LikeLike
Although there are a few women that I have seen saber, it does seem to be a male dominated “field”!
LikeLike
I do have to say this is pretty cool…I’ve never seen this before. It’s also great to know there’s a Wine Bloggers conference!! Cheers to your last day at work!
LikeLike
Thanks so much!
LikeLike
That was very cool. It’s not sabering, but can you do the shoe thing? Oh, and Sopranos theme as background music in the next one…
LikeLike
I have tried the shoe thing and it is not as easy as they made it look in that video!
LikeLike
The one time my friend sabred a bottle, three people refused the champagne “not wanting to drink glass shards”. I’m sticking with corks until requested otherwise. 🙂
Enjoying your unusual use of statues!
LikeLike
No shards! The force of the “beheading” and the pressure in the bottle take care of it….
LikeLike
Right, agreed! But still some people refuse to believe that, and out of fear, then refuse the champagne. Weird?
LikeLike
“Refuse champagne”? What does that mean?
LikeLike