The best Champagne glass?

Not long ago, we posted on Facebook that supermodel Kate Moss had put her breasts on a specially designed Champagne glass . This got us thinking about the best glass for enjoying a bottle of bubbly.

In the old days, a bowl-shaped glass was used to serve Champagne . The so-called coupe glass allows the Champagne to spread over a somewhat larger surface than the tall, narrow glasses most people use today.

Right up until the 1960s, the coupe glass was the preferred glass for drinking Champagne. In the picture above, Leo is toasting with the beautiful coupe glass in The Great Gatsby. Without criticizing the film, it gives a great example of how to throw a real Champagne party, with Champagne tower and all. Moet & Chandon Champagne also had a, in our eyes, leading role as Gatsby's preferred sparkling water.

Legend has it that the first bowl-shaped champagne glasses were shaped after the breasts of the French Queen Marie-Antoinette, but this is certainly not true, and why the glasses had to be shaped after a woman's breasts can only be guessed at...

But yes, it is super nice and very festive to drink Champagne from a coupe glass. Unfortunately, it is just not the optimal way to enjoy the precious bubbles; due to the larger surface area of ​​the champagne in the glass, the bubbles will quickly disappear - and now the bubbles are a very big part of the Champagne experience.

At the same time, the majority of Champagne drunk today is of the dry variety ( Brut ), which makes the bubbles particularly important to highlight the flavor, whereas the Champagne of the 1930s prescribed sweeter Champagnes than we are used to today.

The tall, slender glass that most people drink Champagne from today is called a flute glass. In addition to being decorative, the long stem of the glass also serves the purpose of keeping the Champagne cold in the glass and preventing you from warming it with your fingers. Visually, it also looks inviting when the many bubbles bead up the inside of the glass.

But if you want the optimal champagne experience, most sommeliers swear by a regular white wine glass.
I have tried different types of glasses myself, and if the wine experience is to be the focus (and it should be when you have purchased an expensive bottle of champagne), then a white wine glass with a narrow opening at the top is the optimal champagne glass. The white wine glass should not be too wide at the bottom, as you will then lose too many bubbles due to the larger surface area (just like the coupe glass) - and the narrow opening is to retain the aroma.

You can also consider a modern and very popular variation of the tall thin flute glass, a diamond or rhombus-shaped glass that is slightly wider in the middle, but still tall and slender. In such a glass, an expensive vintage champagne will have optimal conditions to release its delicate aromas. You can see such a glass below:

The first time you pour, the Champagne will want to foam extra heavily, this is because it reacts to the tension in the dry glass, the second time you pour it will be much easier.

Today the coupe glass is mostly used for drinks, for example Daiqiri's, but for the sake of perspective, let's end with a picture of the glass Kate Moss has added her breasts to. And remember, good Champagne should be enjoyed with friends and in slim glasses :)