Originally Posted by
Greenpen
I've never understood this sword business. If you slash at the bottle there will be an undrinkable mess; if you cut the top off the cork level with the top of the bottle it will not come out. If the cork is still in place when the wire is removed it is being kept there by the friction between the bottle and the inserted part of the cork, the top is doing nothing.
Always sounded like an urban myth to me.
I had a French friend of mine who many years ago tried to demonstrate how it should be done with a bottle of wine.
However, this was in Sweden where they at the time they had re-usable wine bottles, with very thick and hard glass, so he failed.
It was quite amusing though.
bjorns