{"id":647,"date":"2020-03-14T02:27:16","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T02:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelcommunication.net\/?p=24992"},"modified":"2020-03-18T01:23:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T01:23:48","slug":"confrerie-du-sabre-dor-celebrates-old-napoleonic-tradition-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/global-travel-news\/confrerie-du-sabre-dor-celebrates-old-napoleonic-tradition-in-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Confr\u00e9rie du Sabre d\u2019Or Celebrates Old Napoleonic Tradition in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Confr\u00e9rie<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n

Singapore (Singapore) – March 13, 2020 (travelindex.com<\/a>) – This is no royal event or a procession at church. But it is solemn, and to be frank, rather peculiar. In pairs, council members of the Confr\u00e9rie du Sabre d\u2019Or, Singapore file into The Fullerton Hotel\u2019s basement ballroom, all of them in elaborate emerald robes and with a sabre held in their white-gloved hands.<\/p>\n

In a few moments, Grand Ma\u00eetre Jean-Claude Jalloux will induct new members into the international champagne order whose literal translation means \u201cThe Brotherhood of The Golden Sabre\u201d. It may be a brotherhood, but as today\u2019s 12 tables soon witness, the bubbly-enthusiasts do welcome women into its ranks: One stroke of a sabre against the neck of an Ayala Brut Majeur jeroboam (3L) bottle saw Motomi Imaseki, in a pale turquoise gown to match her ribbon and medals, elevated to the rank of Commandeur \u2014 the top promotion of the evening.<\/p>\n

The ceremony \u201cgives an air of history and heritage, a sense of drama and grandeur, and a feeling of being part of a brotherhood that stretches back centuries to when champagne was created,\u201d Vice Ambassadeur Eugene Yang, a private banker known also for his love of music, explains.<\/p>\n

The art of sabrage is said to have started during the Napoleonic era with the mounted French Dragoons, who, in victory, would grab a bottle of champagne in one hand, and with the other, slice it open with a sword.<\/p>\n

Though established in 2011, the Singapore Chapter languished for some years until its revival in early 2018. It now has some 65 members and stages champagne dinners almost monthly. Worldwide, the brotherhood has 33,000 members.<\/p>\n

There is only one other champagne society in Singapore \u2014 The Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, the official fraternity of the major champagne houses. The Confr\u00e9rie differentiates itself by its practice and promotion of sabrage and its freedom to explore all of Champagne\u2019s liquid assets, including boutique grower champagnes, which unrestrained by big bucks house-style, often take a more terroir-based approach to winemaking.<\/p>\n

But beyond all that geekery and pomp, what the Confr\u00e9rie really offers is camaraderie.<\/p>\n

As chapter head, Ambassadeur David Jen, a noted gynaecologist with a fondness for eye-catching eyewear, tells me, \u201chaving a brotherhood of friends, bonded by shared interests and love cannot simply be described but must be felt and enjoyed with every encounter, and measured by the happiness felt by each member and the improvement in the health and longevity which many studies have proven. Loneliness is the ultimate poverty, but with champagne \u2014 you\u2019re never alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

With constant chatter and mingling, the evening certainly had a convivial air. Something you might expect especially when the master of ceremonies for the evening \u2014 Confr\u00e9rie member Mike Gray \u2014 reminds all in attendance that \u201c1.2 bottles of champagne per person\u201d had been prepared.<\/p>\n

At the ready to complement The Fullerton Hotel\u2019s individually-plated Chinese menu were bottles of Ayala, Delamotte, Perrier-Jou\u00ebt, Pierre Gimmonnet and Krug. And just as Gray had also predicted, \u201cthe noise level goes up exponentially with the amount of champagne drunk.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 11pm, I found myself wondering: Does the world need another members-only society where regalia and rank medallions are the rage? No. But was it a splendid evening among friends? Certainly. And fellowship is what the Confr\u00e9rie is about. Sant\u00e9!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Singapore (Singapore) – March 13, 2020 (travelindex.com<\/a>) – This is no royal event or a procession at church. But it is solemn, and to be frank, rather peculiar. In pairs, council members of the Confr\u00e9rie du Sabre d\u2019Or, Singapore file into The Fullerton Hotel\u2019s basement ballroom, all of them in elaborate emerald robes and with …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-travel-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}