We had a number of very memorable tastings, including a vintage tasting at Le Grand Café featuring, inter alia, a 2006 Dom Perignon and two vintages of Krug (1988 and 1989). And the trip culminated in a farewell dinner at a private house owned by the Taittinger family, where we enjoyed five of their Champagnes, including their Brut Rosé en magnum and the spectacular Comtes de Champagne 2013.

A number of new friends performed Novice Sabrage, and George and Jaki Kennedy-Copeland were promoted to Commandeur. The cork popped from the first Jeroboam as soon as the cage was removed because someone had neglected to mention to us that they had dropped the bottle before bringing it in (!), but our newly promoted couple were very good sports about it, jointly opening the remaining one flawlessly, then seeing off an additional bottle or two for good measure!

Promotions

• To Commandeur: George Kennedy-Copeland, Jaki Kennedy-Copeland

Learn more about our ranks here, or apply for membership here.

Gallery

Many photos courtesy of Sanjeev Gupta (@thebubblybloke)

To order wines from Julian White Agencies, email julian@julianwhite.wine.

Over eighty of us were in attendance, joined by Grand Council’s Grand Chancelier, Ludovic Giard, Maître des Ambassades, Philippe Brugnon, and Connétable for Germany, Traudi Kaiser.

We celebrated promotions to all levels including Grand Commandeur, and also welcomed a number of Novice Sabreurs. This gave us an opportunity to witness the full spectrum of sabrage, but also meant we could enjoy Philippe’s Premier Cru Brut Millésime 2016 from bottles of all different sizes, each of which magically unlocked a different flavour profile, despite being the same cuvée, from the same harvest, with the same disgorgement date.

After the reception, we sat down to a sumptuous banquet, during which we continued to enjoy seemingly limitless vintage Champagne, as well as some excellent Burgundy, and the classic Brut Rosé to finish.

Promotions

• To Grand Commandeur: Paul Herbage MBE DL
• To Commandeur: Mercedes Cottrell, Anthony Moran
• To Officier: Christopher Noon (Maître de la Communication)
• To Chevalier: Georgia Forde, Edward Nunn, Wayne Sapsford

Learn more about our ranks here, or apply for membership here.

Gallery

Photos courtesy of Dennis Valdez

The weather was perfect, so we kicked off the evening with some canalside sabrage as the sun set. We welcomed half a dozen Novices and promoted one member to Chevalier. Not to be outdone, Andrew and some of the members of Council present took to the lock, and performed synchronised sabrage!

When the sun had well and truly gone down, we made our way into Woodward’s Restaurant for a fantastic four-course dinner, while we were serenaded by the Lincoln Noel Jazz Trio, who kept the dancing (some of which was highly dubious) going until the early hours.

Promotions

• To Chevalier: Ben Sheard

Learn more about our ranks here, or apply for membership here.

Gallery

Photos courtesy of Dennis Valdez and James Rudd

The event started, as one might expect, with sabrage, including the Intronisation of eight Novices and the promotion of four members to the rank of Chevalier. The Champagnes were from Damien-Buffet, the oldest wine-growing family in the Premier Cru village of Sacy (on the Montagne de Reims). The family boasts some fifteen generations of winemaking experience; we were fortunate enough to visit their vineyards on our 2023 Champagne tour, and were therefore delighted to be able to offer their Brut Expression to start and Brut Rosé to finish.

After a lengthy, convivial reception, we sat down to a fabulous banquet, starting with the chef’s selection of dim sum, followed by the classic crispy aromatic duck, then a selection of main courses, and finally ended with toffee fruits (view the full menu here).

After dinner, our Ambassador thanked everyone for coming, then informed them that it was a special occasion not just because it was the start of the Year of the Dragon, but also because it was the birthday of one of our longest-serving members, the one and only Dame Commandeur Peggy Williams. This called for some celebration, and what better way to celebrate than by asking the birthday girl to come to the front and show everyone how sabrage is done, by opening a Jeroboam of vintage Joseph Perrier (as seen above), then surprising her with an incandescent cake?

Peggy received a standing ovation for continuing to harbour the secret of eternal youth, then the celebrations—and Champagne—continued long into the night. Suffice it to say that everyone felt the lunar new year was off to a suitably sparkling start!

Promotions

• To Chevalier: Gus Machado, Jodi Schofield, Christopher Wannell, Matthew Warden

Learn more about our ranks here, or apply for membership here.

Gallery

Photos courtesy of Dennis Valdez

The event started with a Champagne reception with an incredible array of canapés, followed by a truly fabulous banquet, all provided by The Clink Charity’s event catering arm. After dinner, there was a fascinating presentation about the charity’s aims and progress, during which we heard from some of its graduates, who are now pursuing very successful careers in catering, hospitality, and horticulture.

After dinner, a crack team of Maîtres-Sabreurs donned their regalia, taught sabrage to some of the aforementioned graduates and a number of guests who had made generous charitable donations, and Intronised them all as Novice Sabreurs. This provided them a handy supply of Champagne that ensured the party kept going until late into the night!

All in all, the Ball was a huge success—over 450 people attended (including a number of long-standing members of the Confrérie!), and the post-dinner fundraising activities (silent auction and charity sabrage) helped raise over £50,000 for the charity.

Gallery

Seventy-five of us congregated in the hall of 10 Duke St St James’s, an exclusive venue that is not normally open to the public. We enjoyed delicious canapés and mince pies, and most people performed sabrage at least once. We welcomed over twenty-five new Novice Sabreurs and Sabreuses, including physicist Prof. Brian Cox and his wife, presenter and author Gia Milinovich.

Justin and his Council will be exploring more new types of events in the coming months in order to ensure members have even more chances to see each other and introduce friends to the Confrérie, so if you have any suggestions, please let us know!

Most photos courtesy of Sanjeev Gupta (@thebubblybloke)

We were honoured by the presence of two members of Grand Council (Maître Argentier Nicolas Lemoine and Maître des Ambassades Philippe Brugnon) and a Grand Echevin (Traudi Kaiser)—and with 130 attendees, we completely filled the venue. What’s more, with no fewer than 30 acts of sabrage to preside over, we really had our work cut out for us with this first team outing!

Fortunately, everything worked out more or less according to plan, and we had a fantastic evening, with a phenomenal banquet accompanied by wines that were as copious as they were excellent.

At the end of the evening, Philippe made a surprise announcement: Grand Council had decided to promote Julian White (Ambassadeur Emeritus, Tout le Monde, and founder of the UK & Ireland Embassy of the Confrérie du Sabre d’Or) to the rank of Grand Commandeur Grand Croix, making him only the third recipient of this honour, and the first outside France! Julian rose to the occasion by performing an immaculate act of sabrage on a special golden bottle of Philippe Brugnon’s most prestigious wine, Cuvée Crysta Blanc de Blancs.

Memories are hazy as to what time the festivities finally wound up, but everyone agreed we had had a thoroughly splendid evening!

Promotions

• To Grand Commandeur: Ajay Nehra (Chancelier & Maître des Caveaux), Christine Rigden, Stephen Rigden
• To Officier: Pamela Howes, Mike Howes, Jane Walker-Buckton, Rebecca Walker-Buckton, Tristan Walker-Buckton
• To Chevalier: Julian Adams, Steve Barringer, Katie Bass, Robert Beales, Robert Brown, Jemima Dickinson, Cecilia Gejke, Oliver Hymas, Christopher Lewis, Naomi Miles, Craig Penfold, Anders Rydell, Linda Stanwell

Learn more about our ranks here, or apply for membership here.

Gallery