Image by © Darius Ramazani/zefa/Corbis

For those of you that have wanted to learn how to saber a bottle of bubbly, here’s your chance to learn from Small Screen Network’s Jamie Boudreau. It couldn’t be easier, but there are a few important steps you must take.

First, of course, is safety. Make sure the bottle isn’t pointed at anybody and that you don’t swing wildly with a knife and cut the person you’re supposed to be kissing at midnight.

Next, make sure the bottle is well-chilled, especially the neck. This will make the process easier and reduce the amount of spillage.

Lastly, if this is your first time, try it outside first or have some towels ready.

For weapon of choice, the back edge of a sturdy knife works well.

Jamie also recently opened a cocktail bar in Seattle called Canon and we can say without a doubt that it is most definitely Mutineer Approved.

Cheers!

Not sure what bubbly cocktails to make for New Years Eve? Try some of these:

Champagne Cocktail
From:The PDT Cocktail Book by Jim Meehan and Chris Gall.

Pour Champagne into a chilled flute. Add sugar cube. Garnish with a spiral lemon twist.

Note: Originally from the Bar-Tender’s Guide by Jerry Thomas, 1862. Per Meehan: “I recommend pouring the Champagne, then adding the bitters-soaked sugar cube so the wine doesn’t bubble over.”

The Ginger Royale

Pour a generous measure of The King’s Ginger into a flute. Add chilled Champagne to taste.

Kir Royale

Pour Champagne into a chilled flute. Add splash of Creme de Cassis, garnish with a lemon twist.

French 75

Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with Champagne, add lemon twist.

Champagne Flamingo

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with Champagne, add lemon or orange twist.

Just in time for New Year’s Eve, The King’s Ginger Holiday Cocktail Competition winner Michael Jack Pazdon of Solbar explains his winning cocktail and his use of The King’s Ginger on CineVine.com. Ben Morrison, of both Punk’d and Mutineer fame, makes a surprise appearance that adds little to the experience but somehow adds a giggly glow to the video.

Big props to the talented Christopher Eldridge, aka The Dridge, for putting this video together.

What’s been going on in the wine world lately? Here’s a small collection of some articles worth checking out.

Krauthamer uses physics to shoot wine bottles
What do physics and wine bottle photography have in common? According to local entrepreneur Collin Krauthamer, everything.

Wine sales robust in 2011, may drop more in 2012
It was a good year for fine wine in 2011 with auction houses reporting solid sales but the bubble has burst in the Bordeaux market and prices are expected to fall further in 2012.

Prevention: Beer and Martinis: As Healthy as Wine?
Many studies have found an association between the moderate consumption of alcohol and increased longevity, and some have found evidence that wine has a more beneficial effect than other alcoholic drinks.

Israel grows as winemaker
For centuries Israeli wine was reserved for religious ceremony, and the less of it one had to drink, the better. But over the past decade or two, the country been producing some very good wines for consumers — wine to drink with food for earthly pleasure, not just the glory of God.

Critics hope private parliament bill will sink antiquated inter-provincial wine rules in 2012
Broadcaster Terry David Mulligan drove 10 bottles of wine across the B.C./Alberta border in a symbolic act against a law that prohibits the transportation of liquor across provincial borders for resale purposes. He wasn’t arrested. Critics of the law say it punishes small boutique winneries and they hope it will be repealed in 2012.

Wine region remains unprotected
Fresh calls for the Margaret River Region (Australia) to be protected by special legislation have been sparked by Environment Minister Bill Marmion’s Christmas present decision on the Vasse Coal Project.

Seven Winemakers to Watch in 2012
What do a war veteran, a tax consultant and a Kiwi have in common? (No this isn’t a bad joke.) They are some of the best winemakers in California right now. Some of these folks were everywhere this year. And some we hope to see a lot more of in 2012. Without further ado, seven winemakers we think are cool, interesting and really good at what they do—in no particular order.

Only a few days are left to enter in the Mutineer Magazine Hangover II giveaway! Mutineer Magazine and Warner Bros. are giving away a 32″ flat screen TV and 10 copies of The Hangover Part II. Entering to win is easy.

1) If you haven’t already, visit us on Facebook and like us.

2) Subscribe or renew your subscription to Mutineer Magazine by 11:59PM PST December 31 2011.*

- * Anyone who subscribed or renewed since November 1st will be automatically entered into the contest.
- Only open to U.S. residents.
- Winners will be selected at random.
- Winners to be announced shortly after contest deadline.

State lawmakers in Ohio have recently approved a measure that will allow production breweries to offer tastings and sell beers by the glass in their tasting room, much like is done at wineries. The new law will take effect in March.

If breweries wish to hold tastings before then, they are required to get a second permit which costs an additional $3,906 above their manufacturing license. In contrast, wineries pay $76 per year for their annual license and they aren’t required to pay for a second permit for a tasting room.

The tasting room issue was an amendment to a bill focused on micro-distilleries. Under the new law, the state will allow the opening of more micro-distilleries, of which there are currently only three, as long as they produce under 10,000 gallons per year.

What’s been going on in the wine world lately? Here’s a small collection of some articles worth checking out.

Coombsville becomes Napa’s 16th appellation
The Coombsville Vintners & Growers group is celebrating because the federal government has approved the eastern Napa region as the valley’s newest sub-appellation.

What rising memperatures may mean for world’s wine industry
Warming temperatures associated with climate change are already affecting vineyards from France to Chile, often in beneficial ways. But as the world continues to warm, some traditional winemaking regions are scrambling to adapt, while other areas see themselves as new wine frontiers.

Gallo Winery gets AVA expansion
All it took was “Money and time,” said winemaker Merry Edwards, describing the denouement of her lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful fight to prevent expansion of the Russian River Valley viticultural area.

Bitter taste when smoke gets in your vines
Scientists have identified more than 20 chemicals that make smoke-tainted wine taste like leather, disinfectant and other unpalatable flavours in a new research project that aims to limit the damage to the wine industry caused by smoke.

N.J. Senate approves bill allowing wineries to sell directly to dealerss
The state Senate has approved a measure to allow wineries to sell directly to retailers, and to ship small amounts of wine to consumers by mail.

Judge won’t halt liquor privatization
A Cowlitz County judge on Wednesday rejected a request to temporarily halt an initiative to privatize state liquor sales while the courts decide whether it’s constitutional.

What would you do or trade for a year’s supply of beer? Would you tattoo a giant red bronco on your back or fork over your precious taxidermy water buffalo? Prove it at The Black Star Barter on February 4th, 2012 in Whitefish, Montana!

If you can’t afford to make it out to Whitefish, you also have the chance to win a trip to The Black Star Barter for a chance to compete head to head for a year’s supply of Black Star beer. Heck yes.

To enter is easy. Enter a photo or video of what you’d do or trade- any beer-worthy object or talent- for a year’s supply of Black Star, get a lot of votes and win a trip to compete in the official Black Star Barter! Hosted at the Great Northern Brewery, home of Black Star Beer in Whitefish, MT on February 4th, 2012, you’ll compete head to head for a year’s supply of beer.

If the judges choose you as the ultimate barterer you’ll be walking away with 365 days of pure liquid gold; the greatest prize ever conceived by man, beer.

For last year’s Black Star Barter, we predicted “…buffalos, live or stuffed, preferably stuffed for safety’s sake, the world’s largest burrito, and people claiming to be able to sneeze with their eyes open, but don’t take our word for it, go and see for yourself. Mutineer Editor in Chief Alan Kropf has already started the bartering with tots. Tater tots. Good luck beating that.”

Unfortunately, Alan’s tots didn’t cut the mustard but we hear the rest of our predictions came true as sacrificial offerings for a year’s worth of free beer. Speaking of sacrificial offerings, this year, Mutineer Alan is offering up “one kitten.” The rest of Team Mutineer isn’t quite sure what that means, but it’s sure to be interesting.

To enter, visit facebook.com/blackstarbeer.