- Design Inspo
The 21 Best Champagne Glasses for Celebrations and More
In the iconic and forever charming film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, adapted from Truman Capote’s novel of the same name, George Peppard’s character, secretly smitten with Audrey Hepburn’s infamous Holly Golightly, opens a bottle of champagne. While half the bottle explodes in an epic champagne fountain, he pours the rest in Holly’s coffee mug. Drinking champagne for breakfast was one of Golightly’s quirky habits. But a true connoisseur of sparkling wines would have chosen a proper champagne stemware glass to enjoy the drink. Nest Casa lines up the best options for drinking this festive treat at any time of the day.
What Glasses Are Best For Champagne?
Thankfully it’s easy to avoid the coffee mug option, stocking even the humblest of abodes with champagne stemware. Mass production makes it readily accessible. The four essential champagne stemware glasses to choose from are the flute, the coupe, the tulip, and the white wine glass. Remember: There are specific features that make these styles ideal. To start, they have to have long stems that prevent body heat from warming the beverage (stemless champagne flutes exist, but aren’t ideal).
Another feature considers the “fizz” effect. Champagne and other drinks that are enhanced by their bubbles benefit from glasses with minor defects (or, etchings) at the bottom. Why do this? It helps with nucleation by creating a starting point for carbon dioxide, which aids in creating bubbles. As these gas pockets form, they expand in number and float to the top of the glass. In finer champagne glasses, this is achieved with a tiny laser-engraved marking in the base of the bowl.
1. Flutes:
The first go-to style is the flute. It is the most commonly used for champagne today. Initially, the style was designed to catch the large amounts of sediment associated with early forms of the beverage. As the flute is the tallest and narrowest of the styles, the glass displays a row of fine bubbles in an attractive vertical line, floating to the top. Its long, lean silhouette is also aesthetically appealing to those enjoying this effervescent beverage. Still, it has its critics. Due to the slender bowl, the champagne is unable to fully open, so the drinker misses the aromatic taste of the drink.
2. Coupes:
The coupe glass is the most versatile of the bunch. It’s also used for craft cocktails, which have risen in popularity in recent years. As French legend goes, the shape of the wide-brimmed glass was modeled after Marie Antoinette’s chest anatomy. But records show this glass style pre-dating Louis XVI’s era by about a century—and hailing from England. In any case, this stemware style requires careful, elegant sipping as the shallow, broad cup can easily spill. The large circumference allows the flavor of the naturally fermented champagne to open completely. If a stream of bubbles is your aesthetic preference, skip this style as it tends to create a mass of random carbonation.
3. Tulips:
The tulip glass is, truly, the best of both worlds. The tulip champagne stemware is aptly named for its slight resemblance to the shape of the tulip flower. It differs from the flute in that it fattens from the base and, then, tapers inward so that the mouth is narrow like a flute. Given that drinking champagne is a sensual experience that extends beyond taste to sight, hearing, and touch, an oenophile would argue that this style is best.
4. White Wine Glasses:
This might be the sleeper surprise of the bunch—especially, since traditional etiquette proclaimed that champagne should not be imbibed from a wine glass. So, what’s the reasoning for including this style of stemware? Champagne is a sparkling white wine from the Champagne region of France. Therefore, the basic logic is to treat it like one. Wine glasses are designed to let the aromatic flavor of wines open completely; the shapes are according to wine types. Experiencing the total layers of champagne’s taste beyond its joyful bubbles by pouring it into white wine glasses has risen in favor in the last decade as casual drinkers have gotten more serious about the art.
The Best Luxury Champagne Accessories
Nest Casa can suggest even more glass styles to create the ultimate luxury drinking experience. From silver genius Puiforcat comes the silver wine tumbler in a tulip shape. The metal keeps the beverage at just the right temperature. Alternatively, one can enjoy the king of wines like royalty with a set of gold-rimmed, etched crystal styles.
Once the glass choices are nailed, having the perfect accessories on hand to serve champagne only heightens the experience. The first and foremost is the champagne bucket (though, in a pinch, a traditional ice bucket can suffice). Fine linen towels to keep the wet bottle from dripping and napkins for serving are also a regal touch.
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