Mimosa glasses

For a mimosa you count on six centilitres of sparkling wine and six centilitres of juice, so a glass of 16 to 22 centilitres is the practical size. The fill then reaches about three quarters, with enough air above it to catch the scent of the orange. A 9.5 cl flute is meant as a tasting measure or for a quick toast and is soon too small for a brunch. Above 26 cl you get a glass you have to top up halfway through.

Next look at the shape of the bowl. A straight, tight flute holds the carbonation longest. A tulip flute, which draws in slightly at the top, allows more aroma through without losing many bubbles and is the more pleasant choice with fresh juice. The rough or etched dot on the base of some glasses is not a manufacturing flaw but an effervescence point: it gives the carbon dioxide a fixed place to attach, so you see a steady thread of bubbles instead of random foam.

The order matters. Pour the juice first, to about halfway, then slowly top up with the sparkling wine along the inside wall. The other way round the glass foams over, because the fruit fibres in fresh juice release the carbon dioxide all at once. Tilt the glass slightly as you top up and let the wine run down the wall instead of straight to the bottom.

Both ingredients go into the glass cold, at around six degrees. A chilled glass helps, but do not put flutes in the freezer if you are using fresh juice, because condensation forms on an ice-cold wall and that dilutes. Strained juice gives a clearer result than juice with pulp, although many people prefer the latter for taste. If you want to vary, the same ratio works with peach nectar, and then it is called a bellini, or with a dash of cassis for a kir royal.

Grease is the enemy of bubbles. A minute film from washing-up liquid or from a tea towel is enough to make the carbonation collapse straight away, and that is the most common reason wine still seems flat in a clean-looking glass. So rinse flutes well and dry them with a lint-free cloth that has not been washed with fabric softener.

Almost every glass in this collection is dishwasher safe, but the long stem is the vulnerable part. Place flutes upright and with space between the bowls, so they do not knock against each other during the cycle. In a narrow glass limescale leaves a visible ring at the water line, and a dash of vinegar in the rinse water prevents that. Store the glasses standing up and never on the rim.

To see every shape side by side, the full range is under champagne glasses. The narrow models on their own are under champagne flutes, and the wide, shallow bowl under champagne coupes, which is used above all for a toast or a cocktail with sparkling wine. If you are after the recipe, the mimosa page explains the ratio, and the same build with other fruit can be found at the bellini and the kir royal. If a bottle is left over that needs to stay cold, look at the champagne coolers.