Watch: Sabrage attempt at French Laundry smashes $2k Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne

A video doing the rounds on social media channel Reddit involves another failed attempt at sabrage, appearing to show the general manager of three Michelin-starred The French Laundry in the Napa Valley smashing a Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne.

The video, which was posted on 2 January by Reddit user splashtonkutcher, appears to show the general manager of French Laundry, Michael Minnillo, completely destroying a Nebuchadnezzar of Champagne using what can only be described as a questionable sabrage technique.

According to the poster of the video, the Champagne in question was Billecart-Salmon, with a Nebuchadnezzar (15-litre) bottle of the classic brut coming in at roughly US$2,000.

Growing increasingly impatient at the cork’s failure to dislodge, the man believed to be Minnillo began hacking at the bottle which was being held by one of the chefs.

The bottle then exploded, showering those crowded into the kitchen with Champagne and shards of glass. From the footage available, there does not appear to be any serious injuries and people can be seen laughing afterwards.

Minnillo is not the only one to have slipped up on his sabrage.

Back in November 2018, a man trying to open a bottle of Champagne with a kitchen knife was left red-faced after his sabrage attempt didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Meanwhile in January last year a video emerged of a man, who after splashing out around £30,000 on a Jeroboam of Champagne in an Ibiza night club, proceeded to drop and smash the bottle in front of startled onlookers.

In the words of TV presenter and head of sales at Fields, Morris & Verdin, Joe Fattorini: “Man *thinks* he’ll look like James Bond by opening €34,000 bottle. Man *actually* looks like Frank Spencer opening €34,000 bottle”.