Champagne is one of the most popular drinks on the New Year's table. Pleasant hissing of bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass, melodic ringing complement the sweet taste of the drink. But earlier they drank champagne from completely different glasses.
There are two popular shapes for champagne glasses - the wide, or coupe de champagne, and the flute - the elongated shape.
Since champagne is a white wine, you can also pour it into white wine glasses. It is best to serve the drink in a tulip-shaped glass to concentrate the taste.
Champagne bowls
Wide glasses are often referred to by bartenders as ice-cream bowls because their shape is somewhat reminiscent of popular ice cream bowls. This is a long-stemmed glass with a low but very wide bowl, similar to a saucer. Such a glass was created in England in 1663 specifically for sparkling wines, although then champagne was sweeter and less carbonated.
Such a glass was popular until the middle of the 20th century, but then it lost its popularity, in it the drink quickly loses its sparkle. Nowadays, such glasses are mainly used for making cocktails or serving sweet sorts of drinks, and they also look beautiful in champagne fountains when it is poured into the upper glass and the drink pours, filling the ones below.
You can only drink champagne from a glass by holding it by the stem. To touch the cup itself is cultureless and not according to etiquette.
A very famous French legend is associated with the wide shape of the glass. It is said that this shape was invented by Louis XV. He ordered to make a glass on the cast of the chest of his favorite, the Marquise de Pompadour. According to legend, the king of France, seeing the glass, exclaimed: "This is the only container that is worthy of such a drink!" However, it is not known how true this story is.
Flute
The second type of glasses is flut. This is a tall, narrow glass with a thin stem. In such a glass, champagne retains its sparkling for a long time, and the whole bouquet of wine is concentrated, and does not fade away. Yes, and through the transparent walls it is so nice to watch the play of bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. It was invented back in Gallo-Roman times, but it became popular in France when dry champagne came into fashion, already in the 19th century. It was then that the tweezers for opening champagne were invented.
Filling the glasses completely is wrong. A glass of flut can be filled up to a maximum of two-thirds, but a bowl only a third.
Most of the glass molds were modernized in the 50s of the 20th century by the Austrian scientist Klaus Josef. Still later, the designers of the companies for the production of plastic caps came up with special corks for champagne, which remains after the holiday, because the natural cork with which it was closed does not fit into the narrow neck of the bottle.
