CHEERS TO THE HOLIDAYS: CHAMPAGNE FLUTES OR GLASSE
You probably know how much the shape of a glass can influence the perception of a drink. Even the most exquisite wines need to be poured into a quality glassware with a select shape, in order not to lose its harmony.
So, when it comes to special delights like Champagne, you want to get the most pleasure and enjoyment of it. Hence the question about the glass shape arises.
While choosing glassware for your Champagne party you should remember few important points.
Shape. Our tongue consists of a whole set of taste buds: we feel the sweetness with the tip of the tongue, bitterness with the back part, the sour taste can be felt on the tongue sides, and the salty taste is felt everywhere evenly.
The key to understand the importance of a glass shape is to figure out drink’s acidity. If the drink is very sour and tart, then the glass should have an elongated shape. When a person drinks from such a glass, he tilts his head back and the liquid goes down the throat immediately, bypassing most of the receptors. The tongue in this case takes the tubule shape, not allowing the liquid to the lateral buds. If the wine has an average acidity, the glass should be wide.
Here are few general tips that you should pay attention to when choosing glasses for sparkling beverages:
- The rim should be wide enough in diameter to smell the aroma.
- The wider the bowl, the more aromas the glass will collect.
- Base of the bowl should be pointy base, so it will develop a single stream of fine bubbles.
- If the glass lip is thinner the taste of champagne will be less obtrusive. So, the quality of glassware is also important.
There are four common glasses for sparkling wines: Coupes, Flutes, Tulips and Wide Tulips. Each of these glasses has its own history and purpose.
Flute
Champagne "flute" is a modern icon of "high class". Such glass will provide the slender rows of bubbles rising from the very bottom and from the walls surface. Bubbles collect and release the drink bouquet and look spectacular. This glass is ideal for bone-dry (Brut, Extra-Brut and Brut Nature) sparkling wines.
Coupe Glass
Nowadays, this design is unpopular because it is not able to reveal the merits of the champagne as we know and love it today. These glasses have a wide rim and a shortened leg. Coupe Glass is the oldest representatives of special glasses for receiving champagne, as they were popular at the beginning of the last century. Therefore, it is associated with certain eras and deliberate luxury: parties in the Great Gatsby style or Beau Monde of 60s. So, if you are planning to host a themed party, this glass type will become a bright accent and fashion accessory for your celebration.
Also such glass allows the bubbles to disperse quickly, making the wines taste softer and fruitier. This is a fun glass shape to try with sweet sparkling wines such as Asti Spumante.
What is more, Coupe de Champagne glassware looks beautiful in the pyramid, when champagne is poured into the uppermost glass and falls to the lower glasses.The so-called “champagne waterfall” looks very impressive at anniversaries, weddings and other celebrations.
Tulip
The elegant “Tulip” can offer a lot to real sparkling wine connoisseurs. Likewise the "flute", this glass supports the active play of bubbles, but due to its shape, does not hit in the nose, collecting them on the necessary part of the tongue. This glass type collects more floral aromatics with its wider bowl shape and is ideal for more aromatic, fruity sparkling wines, for example Prosecco or Rosé.
Wide Tulip
A wider bowl has the advantage of giving more space for wine revealing, which means rising most of the aromas. The constriction of the upper glass part collects all these flavors in a bouquet, which we inhale with every sip.
This glass style collects mostly the aged flavors of biscuit and brioche found in fine sparkling wines such as vintage Champagne, Franciacorta and other aged sparkling wines.
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