The Right Way to drink Champagne!

Imagine this situation: You’re having a luxury dinner in Mykonos, you’re tasting the fresh fish, live seafood and you’re enjoying a glass of the most premium champagne… A dream, right? Well, having a glass of sparkling wine can be very enjoyable at home too, but did you know that you could actually be doing it all wrong? Probably not, but it’s a possible scenario! Champagne experts say that there’s a whole chemical procedure happening while you’re drinking, and you could be ruining it a bit by using the wrong glass. Oh yes, you’ve read correctly, the wrong glass! It seems that there’s much more going on than the use of the classic, flute glass, which you probably don’t know about unless you’re a wine expert… So, let’s take a look at what’s happening while we’re drinking our favorite champagne.

Bubbles, bubbles & more bubbles

Champagne contains dissolved gas, carbon dioxide and six to seven atmospheres that all want to come out of there –in the form of bubbles- once you pour the precious elixir into the glass! But those bubbles need a starting point, which is the little rough spot at the bottom of the champagne glass, that’s the reason why the bubbles only emerge from the bottom, the center of the glass in thin lines that go towards the top… If your champagne bubbles are coming from all over the glass, two things could be going on. The champagne went a little crazy or -more likely- the glass is a bit, well, dirty! Whoops! Time to get a new one…

In (Glass) Shape

That’s not all there is to it though… When it comes to bodies, we say that all shapes and sizes are wonderful and perfect! This is amazing, but unfortunately it does not stand for champagne glasses too! You see when those little bubbles are going up to the top they get a little bigger and as they move and they also drag particles of liquid champagne. They also carry the flavor of the champagne that wants to emerge out of the glass and vanish into thin air. Trapping them in a way is really important, because a big part of the tasting experience has to do with the smelling experience. As you move the glass close to your face you’re not just drinking the wine, you are also getting a strong fragrance which contributes to your drinking pleasure. As you can imagine different glasses can have a different effect in trapping the air above them, and as a result trapping all the flavor extracts coming from the bubbles!

So let’s say you’re not having a luxury dinner in Mykonos, but instead you want to enjoy a little bubbly at the comfort of your own home, since there’s no other choice during this time… What type of glass would you choose? Your first choice would probably be a classic, tall champagne flute or a coupe which is very wide and flat. We hate to break it to you, but none of these will do the trick! If you fill the flute all the way up to the top, or even of you don’t, the flavor that’s in the bubbles will evaporate into the air above. With the second type, even though the bubble distribution will be much slower and better, you would again be letting the molecules escape and go to waste!

The perfect choice!

So are we forever doomed? The answer is no! Just find a brandy shaped glass! The slow movement of the bubbles will distribute the taste and fragrance in the best way possible and when those escape, they will be entrapped, since a brandy glass’ shape tightens at the top. For an even better effect, don’t fill it all the way up and there you go, you’re a champagne connoisseur now!

You can also just wait until your next Mykonos luxury dinner, where the experts will take care of such matters and will be happy to assist you, but since travelling is not an option now, we say sit back and Enjoy! Till we meet again…