Champagne is traditionally the drink of celebration at parties, weddings and sporting victories. The drink is often consumed in a champagne flute, but this has not always been the case, and some modern champagne drinkers prefer other glassware.
In the beginning
Champagne was first produced using the Method Champenoise about 350 years ago. The drink starts out being produced like any other wine, from pressed and fermented grapes. Unlike standard wine, champagne goes through a second fermentation process when sugar and yeast are mixed inside the bottle, and it is this second process that results in the bubbles. The bottle is laid on its side for a year or sometimes two to age. Each laid bottle is regularly turned by hand.
In the early days, champagne was served in bottle glasses. Before the flute arrived, it was drunk in coupe glasses. The coupe glass was invented in 1663 in England and is believed to be the first glass created especially for champagne drinking. These bowl or saucer shaped glasses were fashionable in the 1960s, and the champagne substitute Babycham featured them in all its adverts.
Advantages of the champagne flute
The champagne flute was developed to increase the pleasure of drinking the luxurious tipple. The stem of the champagne flute means that it can be held by the fingers with a light touch, which makes the drinker look graceful.
Waiters like champagne flutes because they can fit more of them on a tray than standard wine glasses.
The threat to the flute
Some wine lovers prefer a champagne wine glass to a flute. This looks like a conventionally shaped wine glass. People who support their use argue that the smaller-rimmed champagne flute concentrates the carbon dioxide gas from the bubbles above the glass and this negatively affects the taste of the champagne. Also, champagne tasting is affected by the aroma, and a wider rim allows the drinker to get their nose closer to the beverage.
Celebrate with whatever glass you want
Many champagne drinkers like the taste of champagne every way it is served. They will happily drink it straight from the bottle, in a flute or a wine glass. Unless you are a connoisseur of fine expensive champagne, bubbly tastes good in whatever it is served in, and a flute always looks elegant.
If the champagne is being drunk for a special occasion, it can be made more special by using an engraved champagne flute. Any message can be engraved – the name of the occasion, the name of the people involved, or simply a message that says thank you for a service or job well done.
If you want to join the anti-flute party, use an engraved wine glass instead and customise it for the occasion.
Remember that engraving doesn’t have to be just text – images can be engraved as well. Engraved champagne flutes can be presented in a gift box or satin-lined presentation box to make them extra special for champagne celebrations.
