By Rama Gaind.
| This is part two of a feature on a luxury hotel brand that is Darling Harbour’s tallest building. The Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour is the Harbour City’s first new-build, international hotel since before Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympics. |
Sutari Martinez, Champagne Bar manager at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, added pizzaz to the art of the sabrage champagne ceremony. Photo: Rama Gaind
It was a sparkling way to start the evening – with a glass of Taittinger Rose – in the award-winning Champagne Bar at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. Even the expansive city night views were twinkling!
Special occasions deserve spectacular traditions. Pulling out a sword and cracking open a bottle … now there’s a move that’s got class. Proclaim at a party that you’re going to open a bottle of champagne and people will turn their heads. Announce you plan to do it with a sword – and crowds gather. The French tradition of ‘sabrage’ is champagne’s most spectacular ritual and is a technique for slicing open a champagne bottle – with a saber.
The scene was set on Level 3 as Sutari Martinez, Champagne Bar manager, took centre stage, supremely confident, taking aim, adding pizzaz to the art of the sabrage ceremony. It’s not easy opening a champagne bottle with a sword, but she did it – effortlessly!
Sutari Martinez ‘sabering’ the champagne bottle at a special ceremony at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. It’s not easy opening a champagne bottle with a sword, but she did it – effortlessly! Photo: Rama Gaind
Sutari exuded a palpable, infectious effervescence, explaining that the electric atmosphere was because “it’s ceremonial, there are the theatrics, with commitment, fun … and it’s a celebration”.
She went on to elaborate: “sabrage is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s fun to do. It’s entertaining to watch: corks fly, champagne bubbles over, crowd cheers and glasses clink. Once you witness this spectacle, merely popping champagne will forever feel mundane”.
General manager Greg Brady adds: “Nowadays, modern luxury voyagers demand unique, authentic experiences. Offering ‘sabrage’ to our guests is a great way for us to share our expertise, bring something different to Sydney’s bar scene and celebrate French joie de vivre – in line with Sofitel’s DNA of modern French luxury. But be careful, don’t do this at home with any bottle of sparkling, as it takes practice and skills to do ‘sabrage’ safely!”
Following tradition
With its swashbuckling origins dating back to the post-battle celebrations of Napoléon Bonaparte and his French cavaliers in the late 1700s, there’s a certain level of anticipation in a modern-day demonstration of sabrage.
The glorious art of sabrage goes back to the days after the French Revolution when Bonaparte’s cavalry, whose weapon of choice was the saber, used the trick for celebratory bubbles on the go. Always on the move, soldiers came up with a way to open the bottles without having to put down either their sabers or their horses’ reins.
Unsurpassed, expansive night views of the city across the dazzling harbour from the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. Photo: Rama Gaind
Napoléon famously said, “Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it”.
This ritual is being given a new lease of life at Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour’s Champagne Bar. Bringing together expertise, drama and a luxurious sensory experience, sabrage is the best way to enjoy champagne, the French way.
Corks fly, champagne bubbles over, crowd cheers and glasses clink. Once you witness this spectacle, merely popping champagne will forever feel mundane. Join the merry-makers and celebrators of champagne and discover the art of sabrage, only at the Champagne Bar. Indulgent n’est-ce pas?
Guests are invited to order their very own sabrage ceremonies – a great way to savour the world’s finest champagnes and vintage cuvées against the dazzling backdrop of the Darling Harbour skyline. What’s more, at the end of the ceremony, guests are offered a beautiful box with the cork, to take back home as a memento of their experience.
Champagne must be exceptional. The Emperor’s men would drink it in both celebration and defeat. French fashion designer Coco Chanel proclaimed, “I only drink champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not”.
Madelaine Berglind with a Champagne Bar display in the foyer of the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. Photo: Rama Gaind
French actress Brigitte Bardot said, “champagne is the one thing that gives me zest when I’m tired”.
Bubbles or not, what life expects of us is that we celebrate!
Sightseeing highlights
Make the most of your stay and see the sights in Sydney. A 10-minute walk from the city centre, Darling Harbour is a family-friendly pedestrian precinct on Sydney’s waterfront, packed with a treasure trove of tourist attractions. Besides the enticing line-up of shops and restaurants, the area is home to museums, theaters, a zoo and aquarium, exhibitions, and evocative entertainment venues.
The Central Business District is a short walk across historic Pyrmont Bridge. Ferries from Darling Harbour take you under iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge to Circular Quay and Sydney Opera House.
Darling Harbour continues to evolve, with more and more attractions, events, and options added to its ever-burgeoning list of areas to explore. Take a leisurely sunset cruise on the harbour or leap into high-octane activities and adventures. Stroll through a museum, race around a playground, or take a spin on a carousel.
The award-winning Champagne Bar at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. Photo: Rama Gaind
Darling Harbour’s star attractions will see you meeting animals, seeing sea life, climbing aboard submarines, swinging across flying foxes or witnessing science in action. You’ll run out of time long before you run out of options. Here you see the world differently, because every visit there’s a different world to see.
On the southern side is Cockle Bay Wharf – a three-level eating out complex with restaurants of every description skirting the length of the eastern side of Cockle Bay.
Wander through the Harbourside Shopping Centre, a complex with 150 shops on two levels, several waterfront restaurants and an international food court with 40 outlets.
Visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship, one of the largest traditional Chinese gardens outside China. On the northern side is Wulugul Walk, a promenade along the waterfront where Sydney and Darling harbours meet. King Street Wharf has restaurants, coffee lounges and bars. Interestingly, a monorail system used to connect the Sydney CBD to Darling Harbour. It operated from 1988 to 2013.
Award-winning Australian writer, director and producer Baz Luhrmann rightly said, Sydney was “not a place that’s built to be rainy or cold. But when the sun comes out, it bats its eyelids, it’s glamorous, beautiful, attractive, smart, and it’s very hard to get away from its magnetic pull”.
DETAILS BOX
Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour
12 Darling Drive
Sydney NSW 2000
Telephone: (02) 8388 8888
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.sofitelsydneydarlingharbour.com.au
