I think pretty much every flute from a decent manufacturer will have that micro-etching. I thought it was pretty widespread from articles and even a tv program I watched years ago (maybe 60 minutes before new years one year?), but I really don’t have data to back that up.
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Fascinating. So my low-mid tier Riedel ones (that I usually just use for company who expects Champagne that way) probably already have it.
Someone reading this might think the ‘mousse’ only appears in flutes. I can assure you the bubbles will be there in any shaped glass you drink it from.
Flutes make for neato pictures but they do mask a ton of the wine’s expression. Turns out its mega easy to test too. That’s how I figured it out years ago. People would tell me how great Champagnes are and then pour them into long shot glasses. That is after insisting that certain other wines go in stems with big bowls to cradle the expression. It didn’t make a lick of sense logically. So I checked it out side by side several times.
Pour a couple ounces in the flute, take your pic and send it on to Instagram. Then give yourself a healthy pour in almost any stem that you like that is not a flute and enjoy the complete wine.
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yellow card
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I won’t say these are the best to drink out of but I just like them - they are pretty. Of course Waterford makes a bunch of them in different styles - I own the Lismore. Honestly, if I am really focusing on the wine I am more inclined to use a simple white wine glass.
To be used at your wedding and then retired, single use glasses are so wasteful.
Those are Lismore toasting flutes, I believe they also make Lismore flutes.
-Al
Use them all the time. Actually they call them toasting flutes (and I must admit I did think they were called wedding flutes!)
I agree, of course. Bubbles are an integral part of drinking Champagne. But they are not the only part. I think that the Grassl Mineralité does a fine job of maintaining enough bubbles while allowing the aromas to escape, which enhances the taste and overall experience.
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Most Champagne intentioned glasses will have some form of etching at the bottom of the bowl so that bubbles have an ideal nucleation site. Depending on how this is done, you can get different bubble patterns and intensities. A number of Champagne winemakers carry an etching “pen” with them to use on glasses they encounter on their travels. Ruinart Chef de Cave Fred Panaiotis is probably best known for this. It also important to remember that as glasses age and are washed (possibly with detergent) that the etched nucleation sites can fade in their effectiveness. This is another reason that winemakers like Fred carry an etching “pen” with them. The best glasses I have ever used for looking at the flow of bubbles is the Darsonville R.1996. James Darsonville probably etches (actually sandblasts) the base of his wine bowl better than any other glass brand out there. It is a thing of beauty to watch the bubbles dance up to the surface of the wine and create a soft explosion ring. You can say it doesn’t matter and that it is glass dependent rather than wine dependent, but it always pulls at my heartstrings.
As an aside, another reason why seeing bubbles or mousse in the glass matters is that if you open a bottle, pour a glass, and then instantly see the bubbles disappear, you worry. Is the wine flat? Did the cork fail? Will it be oxidized. If the lack of bubbles is the fault of the glass, you will still feel it on the palate, but it is always a play on the mind when your Champagne glass lacks bubbles, yet the wine is still fine and full of CO2. The CO2 just can’t find a place to nucleate bubbles from until it hits your mouth… and that isn’t always a good thing.
- Edited as James Darsonville’s name was originally misspelled
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There is a link to a blog that mentions Dawson in one of my posts above.
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This is the link.
I still have a pair from my wedding. Used once
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When I was a college student in Britain, my then girlfriend’s mother had me buy three dozen Waterford glasses for her (my girlfriend), including a dozen flutes. We’ve now been married over 45 years and have never removed them from the crate in which they were shipped from Ireland.
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My wife is 2nd gen Irish American. She insisted on Waterford, I think we used them once. They look nice though.
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I bought my parents a set of Waterford crystal (various stems and serving items) in a different pattern (over some years, started when I was a student). They did use them and, believe it or not, they were better for wine than the other stems they were using.
-Al
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Well, Saturday he drank ‘08 Bollinger GA from my cellar.
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Which wine glass?
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I also use Riedel Vinum and was served Champagne in them in Epernay at several houses.
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Still have the pair of Riedel Sommelier flutes from our wedding, and when feeling retro or nostalgic we still enjoy using them; they are well-made. Just not for something unusual and good.