Enjoying bubbly? Lose the flute.

[Robin Garr]

The cork comes out with a noisy POP, and fizzy wine pours frothing into a tall, narrow glass called a "flute."

Was your New Year's Eve like this? Stop! Reboot! Before 2016 gets any older, let's make a quick resolution: No more wasting the joy of quality sparkling wines in a traditional glass that is profoundly unsuited to show off their fine aromas.

What do you think? Does bubbly need a flute? In fact, does wine in general need a specific glass for every grape? Tell us what you think, and why.

(Thoughts inspired by this Jan. 5 article in Decanter:
Farewell to Champagne flutes in 2016)

[David M. Bueker]

This plays out at our house every time we have Champagne. I use a regular wine glass (Riedel or such - usually the Chianti/Zin/Riesling glass style) and Laura uses the flute. We then trade off and the wine shows differently in the two glasses. Sometimes the wine glass wins. Sometimes the flute wins.

My solution: a pair of Rabbit brand oversize flutes (that I happened upon at a store once, haven't seen before or since). The are 12 oz flutes with a much wider bowl at the bottom and lots of head space.

I prefer a glass like the right hand one in Robin's photo because I fancy that it gives more room for the Champagne's bouquet to develop without detracting much from the look of the column of bubbles. However, Germaine is now reluctant to discard the flute just as she was reluctant in the beginning to discard the old fashioned saucers/coupes. Unlike David, I've never made a side by side comparison of the different glasses.

As to the question whether a different glass is needed for each wine type and even grape variety, my answer is NO, but it is a brilliant argument to sell more up-market glasses. We use Riedel Vinum Syrah for "best" reds and a Spiegelau glass a bit longer than Riedel Vinum Chardonnay for "best" whites but in fact I think the Syrah glass would do just as well for the whites. For every day use, we chose economical tulip shaped glasses of Bohemian crystal, slightly bigger for reds than whites.

We have, for many years, enjoyed bubbly at home in AP glasses, or even coupes (we don't own flutes). It has been fun experimenting in the last few months with sparkling wines in larger glasses, like our Schott Zwiesel Burgundy glasses. I think huge bowls are great for capturing aromas, especially in Champagne.

Like David, we've done side by sides a few times, with mixed results.

Few years ago my friend Mark did this at beginning of a tasting
He had asked everyone to bring a Champagne glass, a white wine glass, and 4 red wine glasses. As a warmup, he served wine #1. the Mumm de Cramant Champagne, with everyone getting pours in both their flute and white wine glass, to compare. If I had known the plan, I would have brought a standard flute, but had brought my favorite Champagne stem, the Zalto Denk'Art . I like it because it seems to have the best features of a flute and a standard stem, no surprise I preferred it. But actually the majority of the table favored their flutes to the white glasses- the white opened the nose well, but most seemed to prefer the flute for the palate (and as one said. " it's better for the bubbles- and otherwise what's the point"). Nice bubbly, crisp but with a rather creamy texture, sweet apple fruit with just a hint of yeast. B+


I still will call the Zalto my fave. http://www.winemonger.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1740&gclid=CNWUj5XSmsoCFQseHwodUMcOeg but I only have one. I use flutes when folks are standing around, if at table I usually let white wine glasses do double duty.

I believe this is just another example about how my taste buds simply are not developed enough to play with the pros here. I seldom detect significant differences based on the glassware. I think other factors such as the environment and the food and the company and the occasion influences my tastes much more than the glassware. We do own flutes and use them. We have also used other glasses for bubbly. No big deal in my world....others obviously differ.

Since 2000, I have always preferred a typical 'white wine glass' similar to the pictured one on the right...
Yes, I still have flutes, and even a couple of the 1950's "Marie Antoinette" style glasses, but to me, the experience is much better with the standard white wine glass (sometimes referred to as a "Viognier Glass")...

Also, the flute seems to 'froth-over' much too easily, whereas a wider glass better contains the Bubbly when it is poured in.

[Robin Garr]

We tried one random test this week. I took a Riedel Chardonnay glass and a generic flute and poured a splash of a decent French bubbly, Gérard Bertrand 2012 “Cuvee Thomas Jefferson” Cremant de Limoux Brut, into each.

The flute performed its intended purpose: It’s fun to watch the sparkling wine’s lastring stream of pinpoint bubbles go swirling up the length of the tall glass to the top.

But for most of us, the primary sensory benefits of wine don’t come from looking at the stuff. Once you put your nose in the glass, the difference is obvious. The tulip-shaped glass fills with the delicate scents of green figs, dates and distant pears that highlight the Cremant de Limoux.

The flute? Meh. The tall, pipelike glass shape with its narrow aperture, just wide enough to stick your nose in, doesn’t do much to collect the aromas, showing only distant, undifferentiated white fruit. The flavor didn’t suffer so badly, but given that 90 percent of our perception of a wine comes through the nose, the battle was already lost.

(To complete the experiment, we tried a little more bubbly in an inexpensive white-wine glass from Target, which had plenty of room but lacked the turned-in upper curve of a true tulip. It was better than the flute, not as good as the true tulip glass.)

While Jessica and I have flutes in the house, we have used them less and less over the years..Chalk me up as another white wine glass guy re sparkling wines..On a recent visit to NYC, several of the restaurants we dined at poured the sparkling wines we ordered into white wine glasses

One thing keeps us from switching over to a "normal" glass for bubbly: swirling. Neither of us will swirl a flute, but instinct takes over with a regular wine glass and we find ourselves absentmindedly swirling the bubbles right out of there--no good!

Maybe there's another reason, which is that we have a dozen or more flutes sitting there, waiting to be used. (My wife doesn't throw things out.)

While we have all the "required" glasses in the cupboard, we have found that both my wife (whites) and I (reds) now use the same tulip glass for our daily wine enjoyment. Nevertheless, we do bring set the table with more than one style when having dinner with others who enjoy the fruit of the vine.
While off topic, I do have another story about choice. Before Christmas, my wife was hosting a baby shower for about 20 lady friends of the mother to be. As the family chef and usual wine steward, I was permitted to stay and serve the wine and food. I presented a choice of reasonably priced wines and prepared to serve the guests. As one of the co-hosts arrived, I asked her if she would prefer a red or a white wine. When she replied "white" I asked whether she would like a Pinot Grigio, a Sauvignon Blanc or an Unoaked Chardonay. She looked at me like I had 3 eyes and said "I don't think I have ever been asked that question--most people just say do you want red or white." I think that I was a stunned as she was. This is a well educated woman who has traveled internationally with her brother who is a Canadian Paralympic Gold Medallist. As I thought about it afterwards, it may be that most who attend such get togethers also just take which ever wine first comes to hand without any thought. I have decided that the next such party that we host will begin with a very quick wine tasting so that the guests not only have a drink that they enjoy, but they perhaps go home with a little better appreciation for the varieties that wine presents.

[Robin Garr]

While off topic, I do have another story about choice. ...

Great story, Gord! Thanks for the post, and welcome back to the forum!

[Robin Garr]

One thing keeps us from switching over to a "normal" glass for bubbly: swirling. Neither of us will swirl a flute, but instinct takes over with a regular wine glass and we find ourselves absentmindedly swirling the bubbles right out of there--no good!

Interesting post, Steve! That actually makes sense, but it hadn't crossed my mind, probably because I often unthinkingly do swirl a flute. In my experience, though, at least with traditional-method bubblies, the carbonation is so firmly fixed in the wine that it's very hard to shake it flat ... at least before I finish the glass.

[David M. Bueker]

One thing keeps us from switching over to a "normal" glass for bubbly: swirling. Neither of us will swirl a flute, but instinct takes over with a regular wine glass and we find ourselves absentmindedly swirling the bubbles right out of there--no good!

Interesting post, Steve! That actually makes sense, but it hadn't crossed my mind, probably because I often unthinkingly do swirl a flute. In my experience, though, at least with traditional-method bubblies, the carbonation is so firmly fixed in the wine that it's very hard to shake it flat ... at least before I finish the glass.

Then we get to the issue of decanting Champagnes. I don't know where the idea came from, but it has gained traction in certain quarters, and it drives me nuts!

[Robin Garr]

Then we get to the issue of decanting Champagnes. I don't know where the idea came from, but it has gained traction in certain quarters, and it drives me nuts!

First I heard of it, and it already makes me nuts! I'd put it right down there with turning the bottles in your cellar regularly.

I’ll have to disagree with Robin when it comes to the “visual” aspect. Visual or appearance plays a very big role in ones sensor evaluation of food or wine. Appearance evaluation is the first step, does it look typical and pleasing to the eye. While doing the visual your mind is already throwing ideas around on how it is going to smell and taste, even before you give it a”sniffy sniff” or even put it in your mouth.

If you think Georgian banquets have long and drawn out toasts, you should attend a “traditional Italian wedding” (especially my family weddings). The modern flutes are a must; otherwise the champagne or sparkler will lose its sparkle.

Salute

I don't drink much bubbly but prefer a tulip glass when I do partake. I have to echo Steve Kirsch--I was at a wine dinner at a retail venue and absentmindedly started to swirl the sparkling wine and was gently admonished by the wine representative that you don't want to swirl sparkling wine! Just force of habit.
(In a similar vein during my first ski week-- in Garmisch-Partenkirchen--the instructor kept telling us on the ski slope to bend at our knees. That evening in the hotel I suddenly realized that I was standing there with my Bier with my knees bent!)