Stemware for Bubbles

What to use for the ultimate sensory experience

WORDS BY TWYLA CAMPBELL PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED

If you’ve ever wondered the importance of glassware, try drinking Champagne out of a travel mug. It can be done, sure, but it won’t be as pleasurable an experience as it could be because you’ll be missing out on the nuances that make partaking of this type of wine so pleasurable.

A glass is more than a vessel to hold liquid. It is the conduit between the product and each of your senses. The proper glassware allows you to not only taste what’s inside, but it also allows you to see it, smell it, touch it, and in the case of effervescent wines, hear it.

If you’re planning on popping some bubbly to celebrate Valentine’s Day this month (or any time of the year), having the right stemware is a vital part of the process.

Speaking of stems: use a glass that has one. Holding a glass without a stem allows the heat of your hand to transfer to the glass, and when a wine warms, it loses a lot of its character, including taste, smell and feel.

The bubbles are the star of the show, so how they’re managed is most important. You want the bubbles to stay as long as there is wine in the glass and that means the shape of the glass matters.

The three most common shapes for sparkling wine glasses are flute, coupe and tulip.

Flutes are classic and everyone has them. They look great and do the job but are they the best vessel for sparkling wine? Recent studies suggest not. If you’ve ever found yourself squinting while taking a sip of bubbly, it’s because the shape of a flute—that being tall and narrow—makes the bubbles rocket straight up and out in a direct line to your face. And while your nose is also in the line of fire, the aroma of the wine isn’t allowed to fully bloom, again, because of the narrow shape—and as we know, the bouquet of a wine is a beautiful thing to behold. More importantly, though, is that if you miss out on aroma, you also miss out on taste because those two senses are intrinsically connected.

Flutes are pretty, though, and if you’re set on staying with them, you have many options. What you want to look for is weight, height and craftsmanship because how that glass feels in your hand is also part of the experience. Thick stems or oddly shaped stems on these glasses are a no-no.

A coupe may be classy and reminiscent of the Golden Age of Hollywood, but the shape harkens to the mid 1600s when Champagne was first made, and bubbles, believe it or not, were considered a flaw. A wide-bowl cup in those days was functional, but times have changed and so have the methods used to make sparkling wine. Today, bubbles are very much a treasured part of the product, and the shape of a coupe is now the flaw because it allows the bubbles to escape too quickly, risking the chance of the wine going flat before it’s consumed. So, best to keep the coupe for cocktails.

The shape that works best for bubbly is the tulip, a glass that has a wider, round bowl that narrows slightly to the top. This shape allows the aromas to release different layers as they work their way out of the bowl and up the sides to where they exit at the top. As well, the shape prevents the bubbles from escaping too quickly so that you can enjoy seeing them dance longer in the glass.

You’ve got the glasses, now you need the wine. Check out our drinks feature for three terrific sparkling rosé recommendations. Wrap up these items with a bow and you’re guaranteed to be in the pink with your special someone when Cupid comes calling this February 14.