Tom Gilbey Champagne Sabre

The Business

Designing (and then, of course, thoroughly testing…) a Champagne Sabre’s a tough job … but someone’s got to do it – and we were lucky enough to have the pleasure of doing so with the inestimable Tom Gilbey Esq – a man who’s spent his entire life in the world of wine and whose Instagram we follow assiduously.

Made with the same care and attention as any of our regular knives, but with a cleverly squared edge that works more effectively than a regular blade (while being infinitely safer), our collaboration with Tom is just enormous fun. British Brown oak and our traditional red liner ensure that every blade is unique, understated and distinctive.

While the edge is squared, we highly recommend the following: Hold the bottle in the middle (not the neck), have dry hands and a dry bottle, or use a cloth (or even gloves!). And you don’t need to wallop it – Mr Firm Precision is your friend!

As Tom would have it:

“Chopping the top of a Champagne bottle off with a sabre is a very silly and completely uneccesary thing to do, but so are most fun things in life. I’ve never found a sound that gets everyone in the party mood like the crack and pop of cutting off the top of a Champagne bottle.

Working with the Savernake team to fine tune this sabre, and visiting their workshop to see the artistry that goes into each blade were eye opening experiences, as was the end result. The blade is reassuringly solid. The strong spine allows it to slice cleanly through the tip of the bottle, and as it’s not sharpened there’s no risk of accidents when you’re on to bottle number 5.

I’ve opened more than my fair share of bottles with sabres and the Savernake sabre is far and away the best I’ve used for the job.”