"Méthode Champenoise"

I guess I can not pass up a chance to show off the only knife I picked up since Blade last year. I been a good boy, up to now, but Blade is just around the corner so there goes any hope of keeping the streak alive.

 
^ I can't find a smarticon for that one! Absolutely stunning :)
 
Been away a bit. Jack, you are of course entirely correct about the dosage methode, I didn't explain myself well there, a mighty tricky final touch nevertheless!

S-K some more intriguing and really impressive devices on view, and the ads are entrancing, thank you!
 
I don't know about the US, but here in my country (and generally in southern Europe) this sort of tool/knife is still quite popular, either as a promotional item, or as a nice gentleman gift. Here are some, all made by known cutlery factories, just to see that design has evolved but in the end it hasn't changed much:

Viper:

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Laguiole:

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Also, since there has been some talk about cork on this forum, I though it would be interesting to see this knife. This knife goes under the name of "Lurisinca" (from the village of Luras), and is a variant of a knife called "lametta gallurese", quite common in Gallura (northeastern part of Sardinia) and used to harvest cork (the knife has no point and is chisel ground to avoid all damage and loss of cork). This very knife was made by a talented knifemaker from Luras, named Dino Sanna (the picture is borrowed from his website):

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Fausto
:cool:
 
Nice to see this thread reappear. Lovely stuff S-K :)
 
Wonderful additions, S-K! Thanks for sharing your collection! I keep going back to peruse it all.
 
Lovely champagne knives,I have one that I've rescued from the brink.when I was given to me it was red rust.with WD40 and some gentle cleaning and the soaked it in gun oil this is the result.The blade been eaten a bit ,but still has a good snap as with the others tools.
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I have found this thread very interesting and educational. It has made me realize that I have not scratched the surface of the knowledge of knives and related tools. I have an old tool that is much like the ones smiling-knife posted and called champagne wire cutters but never knew what it was. I will try to find it and post pictures.
 
Jack Black said:
The Champagne region produces some very good still wines, both red and white. While other quality sparkling wines are produced elsewhere in Europe, using similiar, though not identical methods, European Union law forbids them even to be labelled Méthode Champenoise as in the past. The term 'Traditional Method' (and linguistic variations on that) may be used.

Great-looking knife Gevonovich :)
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Thank you Jack for putting things back to their place! As you say, there is only one champagne, that does not mean that other sparklings are bad, simply they did not grow on that particular ground (in fact there are more than one and a good champagne is a mix of different places- here lies the secret of the masters) nor were they produced with the same grape, or made the way Dom Perignon introduced in 1670. This is what "AOC" guaranties, thus the sparklings made in Georgia (in Asia) or California are just stealing the name.
Will & Jack, the bottle is kept head down and frozen (this is quite recent) to remove tartaric acid, that would make opening scary.
BTW Champagne is not a valley, it is a large plain spreading on five departments and red wine is excellent but quite scarce.

I had a good laugh at the video, seing how carefully the man opens the bottle. Trust me, you don't need sunglasses (why not a safety belt?) just a good saber and the knack.
And do you really think we had to wait for those brave Poles to invent that way to open? In fact he is confusing two things : it is not with a baïonet but with a cavalry officer saber (poor foot soldiers probably never saw a bottle of champagne for their whole life, nor could they afford one) and is a tradition (we say "sabrer le champagne") in the French army (and not only) since I don't know when... second, the Poles serving under Napoleon as Generals had a much better resistance to alcoolic beverages than their French, Belgians, etc counterparts. Thus after a victory somewhere in Prussia, Napoleon told them to take exemple on the Poles who drank a lot and still could behave correctly. Thus came "saoûl comme un Polonais" (drunk as a Pole).
For the fun, ask a Pole to choose between vodka and champagne. I know the answer!

No need for a corkscrew to open a bottle of champagne, the fat cork is much easier and safer to remove by hand.
 
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Nice collections !
Fausto I get no pictures !
Unfortunately the cork screw is the shape of the spirochete bacteria Lyme , a sad reminder for me !
The cork tree is actually an oak tree ! Cork Oak.
There is another cork remover that I was always familiar with .Two parallel 'blades' are pushed down ,spanning the cork , twist and pull removes the tool and cork . And you can then reuse the undamaged cork !
 
mete said:
There is another cork remover that I was always familiar with .Two parallel 'blades' are pushed down ,spanning the cork , twist and pull removes the tool and cork . And you can then reuse the undamaged cork !
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I suppose you think to the Sanbri, a very clever unexpensive and very useful tool when the cork breaks.
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Here a modern one, I "borrowed" it from a friend waiter in my prefered brasserie. This one was given by an Alsatian winemaker. The interesting part is the one protruding, in fact it is retained by a spring and when pushed allows to make a stop half way of the cork and then needs less strength. It works surprisingly well and fast.
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Will , at a moment, about 25 years ago, they tried this kind of thing, Happily it did not catch, though it was economic and practical. (sorry I'm a bit off-topic)
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Jolipapa said:
Thank you Jack for putting things back to their place!
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Thank you my friend, and I'll try to get this old thread back in it's place again! ;) :D :thumbup:





Regrettably, I've never been able to identify the maker of this old Sheffield-made model :(
 
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