Why the Flute & Champagne Became Fast Friends
Quite often, the Champagne flute is not the best choice for your bubbly drink. The truth is that white wine glass or something similar can enhance your fine Champagne experience much better.
Champagne Down Generations
Imbibers though for generations thought that the Champagne flute radiated elegance. Wielding a bubbles-filled flute was conferred with a dose. A dosage of class. It is not that the flute has eventually lost its appeal. The flute is still widely used and seen as both, sensible and sexy.
However, now winemakers, sommeliers, and regular sparkling wine lovers are increasingly being enlightened to a notion that was once considered taboo. The idea that flute, after all, is not the best vessel for appreciating fine Champagne is gaining ground.
Fast Friendship Between Flute & Champagne
Let us take a moment here to think about why a flute and Champagne in the first place became such fast friends. Is it the narrow design of the flute that was first called to serve as a method of wrangling an unwieldy sentiment? It is well known that Champagne was normally served with, or as, dessert.
And if it was served filled in a glass at dinnertime, the sediment would have collected at the bottom of the glass by the time the drinker was ready to partake.
Modern Day Drinkers Think Otherwise
The flute however has stood the test of time for more than 200 years that disgorgement or the removal of lees from a bottle of Champagne is convenient. But then, the modern-day drinkers think otherwise. For them, it is like we are suffocating our sparkling wine and hindering full enjoyment of Champagnes’ finest expressions.
Champagne After All is Wine as Such
Treat it likewise! Is it not that consuming Champagne from a wider glass instead of in a thin flute allows the drinker to experience more of the aromatic spectrum, though it is easy to regard this sparkling drink as a category by itself? It would be wiser here to remember that it is a type of wine as such.
It is the tendency of Champagne drinkers to ignore the fact that it is indeed a type of wine that is largely responsible for keeping the flute in vogue. Despite this, the glass is fast gaining industry-wide recognition. Champagne in glass allows drinkers to breathe in the flavor along with all of its layers.
Blind Faith When It Comes to Champagne
Nevertheless, a peek into many of the Champagne’s finest houses reveals that the flute dissenter is a must. Modern-day glassware companies now say that they are inspired to take up the fight and design a new glass for Champagne. Many have started and became motivated to take a stand.
They are bent on changing the way people drink Champagne. Eventually, the result is that glasses with wider, yet still constrained lip are coming into the picture. It flares the partway down the bowl before constricting into a bottom that is still slim.
The Ideal Alternate to the Champagne Flute
Yes, it is the Blida! Blida is a type of small, but stemless glass that is used by locals within the Champagne region. They can be painted or come in mismatched styles. They also easily pack into a bag for the beach or the park. Named after a city in Algeria, they are widespread here for drinking tea.
Other Preferences for Consuming Champagne
Some others prefer to drink Champagne from a white wine glass. These glasses have a lip that is slightly smaller in radius than the base of the glass. Carbon dioxide can become too pronounced if the glass is having too much of a bowl.
This is why several glassware companies are now making Champagne glasses incorporating characteristics of both the bowl shape and the thin flute. These are a perfect balance for the sparkling wine.
The Flute is not Dead Yet
Don’t kill the flute! Although some people have taken a hard line that Champagne should never be served in a flute, there are others who are quite flexible. Flutes as such send a festive signal. There are occasions that call for a flute. Flutes are ideal when Champagne is consumed instantly. The narrow flute in such instances helps the still-common coupe glass lose bubbles even more rapidly.
However, this may not be true when Champagne is served in a soiree setting where glasses of bubbles are poured and are left sitting for a time before being passed around. Use them in settings where you are concerned that the wine may lose much carbonation while you would like to retain its satisfying effervescence for a longer period of time.
Matter of the Type of Champagne
Then there is the type of Champagne or sparkling wine that you are serving matters. Try opting for a white wine glass for blanc de blanc Champagnes. Another for a rose Champagne unless it is a vintage release. The thumb rule is that allow the aromatics of the wine to fully express itself.
This will work best and you can count on the results. Remember, not every sparkling wine can stand up to the test of increased scrutiny. Stick to the traditional flute for prosecco, cava, and crémant.
