Champagne flute glasses

First consider the occasion. At a reception or toast, you fill a lot of glasses quickly, so small flutes holding 9.5 to 16 cl work best. You pour a little more often, so nobody is left with warm champagne. At the table, 20 to 26 cl is the standard size, and you fill the glass about two-thirds full. Roomier flutes holding 30 to 35 cl are for those who also want to smell the champagne. The bowl is wide enough to capture its aroma.

Then pay attention to two details. Bubbles travel smoothly into your mouth over a thin rim without a cut edge. Many flutes also have a nucleation point at the bottom. It’s a tiny rough spot that the carbon dioxide clings to, producing a neat stream of bubbles. If you’re looking for the wide, shallow style that releases more aroma but loses its bubbles faster, browse the champagne coupe glasses.

Pour cold and hold the glass at an angle. Champagne should be between 6 and 8 degrees. Holding the glass at an angle lets the mousse slide down the side and prevents it from foaming up in the middle. Pour in two stages. First, a small amount; wait for the foam to settle, then top it up. This keeps a champagne flute much bubblier than pouring it all at once.

Sparkling cocktails that you build in the glass also belong in a flute. A mimosa is equal parts champagne and orange juice. A bellini uses peach purée and prosecco. In both cases, pour the juice into the glass first and the bubbles afterward, or it will foam over. Put the bottle back in the champagne bucketbetween rounds. A bottle that warms up will fizz much more vigorously the next time you pour.

With champagne glasses, grease is the biggest culprit. A thin film of dish soap, rinse aid, or hand cream on the inside breaks down the bubbles as they rise. The mousse then disappears, even though there’s nothing wrong with the bottle. So always rinse flutes thoroughly with hot water and skip the rinse aid.

Ideally, let them air-dry on a clean towel with the bowl facing up, so the thin rim isn’t resting on anything. If you do need to polish them, use a lint-free cloth and hold the bowl, not the stem. A cloth won’t fit inside the narrow bowl. Only a glass brush with a long handle works well there.

You’ll find the wider selection, with coupes, tulips, and everything in between, under champagne glasses in the menu. If you pour still white wine more often than sparkling wine, then white wine glasses are a more natural choice. If you mainly make sparkling cocktails, a wide glass is more pleasant to drink from than a narrow flute. And if you want to open a bottle the classic way with a saber instead of your thumb, you’ll find that tool under champagne sabers.