WORLD RECORD BY SABRAGE: 96 BOTTLES OF SPARKLING WINE OPENED WITH A SABRE

Uncorking a bottle of sparkling wine in less than a second with a saber? No problem for sommelier Mirko Rainer. On Friday, at the Sektmanufaktur Winkler in Girlan | Eppan, he managed to uncork 96 bottles in one minute, breaking his previous world record.

The sabrage technique is without a doubt the most spectacular way to open a bottle of sparkling wine: simply unscrew the annoying screw cap over the cork, pull, and push. A swipe of the sabre, and the sparkling wine gushes forth. The undisputed master of sabrage—even at world level—is sommelier Mirko Rainer. In 2014, he set his first world record, sabering 64 bottles in one minute. In 2015, he had to relinquish the title, but in 2023, he revalidated it, sabering 68 bottles.

On Friday, Rainer achieved another feat: at the Winkler Sektmanufaktur in Girlan | Eppan, he uncorked a remarkable 96 bottles, securing a new world record. A simple reason drove the South Tyrolean sommelier, who runs several restaurants in Switzerland, to further improve his record: his fiercest rival, American Ashrita Furman, was aiming to break the world record. And Rainer beat him to it, raising the bar even higher.

The new world record was announced by a jury of distinguished judges, including Regional Councilor Hubert Messner, Mayor Lorenz Ebner of Eppan, and sommelier Sigrid Innerebner. The Alto Adige "Cuore di Bimbo" Association also benefited from the record: every sabered bottle had been previously sold, and the record-breaking bottles and the saber were auctioned off on site. That same evening, Sektmanufaktur Winkler was able to present a check for €14,275 to Ulrich Seitz, president of the association that supports children born with congenital heart defects.