Best Champagne Glass For 2020

To find out what makes a great Champagne glass, we spoke to wine professionals, including Belinda Chang, a James Beard Award-winning sommelier, former Champagne educator for Moët Hennessy, and the former wine director at Chicago’s Maple & Ash; David Speer, the owner of Ambonnay in Portland, Oregon, and one of Food & Wine’s Sommeliers of the Year (2013); and Philippe Gouze, the director of operations at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the world-renowned farm-to-table restaurant outside New York City helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef Dan Barber. Additionally, we interviewed Maximilian Riedel, CEO of Riedel, to learn more about the history, development, and production of Riedel stemware.

Champagne flutes are meant for celebrations. The tall, narrow shape is primarily designed to keep your bubbly from going flat, but it also looks elegant, and can make an occasion feel extra special. Plus there are certain Champagne cocktails, like the French 75, that are traditionally served in a flute, so Champagne glasses can make a nice addition to a growing collection of barware too.

The best flute for you is the one that makes you feel like a rock star when you hold it. But there are other details that really make a glass stand out.

Shape and size of the bowl

To begin with, a tall and narrow flute is an impractical shape for something intended to hold liquid—it quickly becomes top-heavy and accident-prone. But a good Champagne glass will overcome those limitations. It will be able to hold a decent amount of liquid, at least 5 ounces, without feeling unwieldy when you pick it up. And the rim won’t get in the way of your face or hit your nose when you drink, which happened with most of the glasses we tried. We physically couldn’t drink out of some of the narrower flutes we tried without really throwing them back, and that’s not the ideal way to enjoy Champagne. Perfect ergonomics for anteaters, but not for humans.

Some Champagne glasses have vanishing-point bowls, which taper to a very fine point at the bottom. But this kind of glass is a pain to maintain (gathering gunk in a tiny space you really have to work to clean out), so we dismissed it from consideration.

Bubble preservation

A good Champagne glass should do what it’s intended to do: preserve bubbles. Terry Acree, PhD, a professor in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University, told us: “Bubble formation is critical to a good sparkling wine.” Bubbles are formed in Champagne when the carbon dissolved in the beverage latches onto a particle, forms a pocket, and then floats upward. This is accomplished most effectively by glasses that have an effervescence point, a tiny laser-engraved etching, often invisible to the naked eye, inside the bowl of the glass. By giving the gas just a single, targeted place to escape, carbonation stays trapped in the drink longer. Just imagine how long it would take an entire subway car full of people to unload if there were only one exit, as opposed to several.

In our tests, we looked for glasses that could provide an even, steady flow of bubbles. The long, narrow shape of the bowl also helps to drive the bubbles upward. (For more information on how the shape of a glass affects carbonation,

Weight and thinness

One of the most important qualities of a good Champagne glass is weight. Heavy glassware is for dark spirits and deep thoughts—Champagne demands something carefree, like the character of the drink itself. Especially because you’re typically holding it and refilling it all night, the glass should be lightweight”

Design and types of glass

We limited our search to clear glasses with good craftsmanship (free of bulges, bubbles, or crookedness), and a stem (to keep your hand off the bowl so you don’t warm the wine). Max Riedel, CEO of Riedel, told us in an interview, “the glass has to be clear without decoration.” Cut crystal glassware is beautiful, but it’s too distracting when trying to observe the color of the wine and the bubbles in your glass. For a primer on the difference between glass types, including crystal, nonleaded crystal, and soda-lime glass, see our guide to the best wine glasses.

Price and quality

Spending $40 or more on a glass gets you a brand name or a specific design. Because at its heart a Champagne flute is meant to make you feel special (as opposed to being a performance piece of glassware), there is an argument to be made for spending money on a brand that you identify with. So if you love Lalique and want to spend the money, do it. But higher-priced flutes don’t have concrete advantages over anything in the $20 to $50 range.

The same brands that dominate the wine glass industry dominate in Champagne stemware. The heavy hitters are Riedel and Schott Zwiesel. We also looked into products from Waterford, Mikasa, Rogaska, Lenox, and Kate Spade—well-known lifestyle brands you can find in a department store. The really high-end brands such as Baccarat and Lalique were not considered, as they generally start at $100 per glass.

After researching over 80 glasses, we decided on 10 to test for this guide. Glassware in person never looks like it does in pictures, so we checked to see how tall they were, what shape the bowls were, and how well they handled liquid. We also wanted to know if there was one particular shape of glass that excelled at preserving carbonation better than another shape. To test this, we poured 2 ounces of bubbly into four differently shaped glasses and waited 15 minutes to let some of the carbonation escape. Then we added a Mentos to each glass to accelerate the nucleation process and release most of the carbonation that was left—whichever glass produced the most fizz had preserved carbonation the best. Tulip-shaped bowls were the big winner, in both practicality and bubble preservation.

The Riedel Vinum Cuvee Prestige outsparkles the competition in two ways: First, the fine, thin nonleaded crystal (fortified with lead oxide alternatives) is a pleasure to drink from and gives the glass extra radiance. And second, the shape of the Cuvee Prestige and the nucleation etching on the inside of the flute preserves carbonation better than any other glass we tested. It also has ample capacity to hold a generous pour of bubbly without overflowing. Considering the quality craftsmanship and materials, this flute is a bargain at about $25 per glass.

The Cuvee Prestige has the ideal tulip shape, meaning it has a slightly fatter middle section and curves inward at the top. Tulip-shaped bowls, as well as round bowls, were the two silhouettes that distinctly kept bubbles marching along in slow, steady streams in our tests. The shape can also hold liquid without getting top-heavy. The Cuvee Prestige has a nucleation etching on the inside of the glass, which helps release carbonation in a steady stream so wine stays fizzy longer.

The glass also has a thin lip and an evenly blown bowl that has a smooth, flawless transition to the stem. The Cuvee Prestige holds about 8 ounces, which is perfect, because that means a big 5-ounce pour of Champagne won’t reach to the brim, keeping the center of gravity in the glass low and less prone to toppling. It is just shy of 9 inches tall, and though flutes taller than this can be nice, we’ve noticed major problems with top-heaviness as soon as the glass goes above that mark. Longer stems can look precarious when they support heavy bowls.

At just $25 each, the Cuvee Prestige is an absolute steal for the quality. The fact that it’s widely available at multiple retailers is also a major advantage over some of the competition. Several of the glasses we originally tested have been discontinued or have limited availability online, but the Cuvee Prestige continues to be easily replaceable. According to the Riedel website, the Vinum series dates back to 1986, so this glass has stood the test of time.

The Cuvee Prestige glass does what it’s supposed to do with very little compromise. If polished wrong or mishandled, of course it could break. And it’s not the tallest or lightest glass out there—two good qualities we fussed over with some of our former picks, because being lightweight is a great benefit for something you often stand around and hold for a long period of time. But when it came down to choosing between an extra ounce of weight, or a glass that could actually be found and used, the Cuvee Prestige became the obvious choice.

After an additional year of use, our favorite Champagne flute, the Riedel Vinum Cuvee Prestige continues to perform.

Riedel stopped using lead oxide in its glassware in 2015, opting to replace it with less-toxic materials to produce stemware that shares similar attributes to leaded crystal. But we’ve found the company’s newer nonleaded stemware is just as sparkly as its older, leaded crystal glasses. Keep in mind that some retailers advertise nonleaded crystal as “crystal,” which is confusing. But Riedel includes stickers on all of its glassware indicating what type of glass the stemware is made from. Occasionally, you may find some backstock Riedel champagne glasses that are made with lead oxide, but, according to Max Riedel, these should have a sticker identifying them as “lead crystal.”

Our favorite flute for parties is the affordable Crate and Barrel Viv Champagne Glass. Though its classic flute shape lacks some of the characteristics of high-end stemware, such as a nucleation site to direct fizz, the bowl is made of thinner glass than most of the competition in this price range. The stem is long and elegant, and the glass is well-balanced. We think it’s the best champagne flute to have on hand for celebratory gatherings with friends and family.

No one wants to break the bank passing out glasses for a toast, especially when celebrating with a crew of six or more. The Viv doesn’t have the characteristics that make higher-end flutes better than others, namely tulip-shaped bowls, effervescence points, and sparkling crystal. But we don’t think most people want to spend $200 for a party of eight to come over and drink $40 worth of Prosecco. The Viv costs about $5 a glass and looks marvelous. Though it’s made of soda-lime glass, the lip and bowl are pulled thin, which creates the refined quality that separates most restaurant-grade models from more expensive stemware.

The Viv flute is just the right height at 9½ inches—not so stubby that it looks plain, not so towering that you could break it with a glance. After examining all of the Crate and Barrel stemware collections in person, we think the Viv has the most user-friendly proportions. It doesn’t loom on a skinny stick like the Camille or get top-heavy when full like the Vineyard. The base, stem, and bowl are in the right proportion to keep liquid stable. The diameter of the rim is slightly narrower than that of our main pick, the Vinum Cuvee Prestige, so it’s more likely to hit the bridge of your nose. However, because the Viv is well-made and inexpensive, we’re willing to forgive this flaw.

We spoke at length with David Speer, owner of Ambonnay Champagne bar in Portland, about which glass he recommends for drinking Champagne, and he told us: “The one I use at my bar where I serve exclusively Champagne and sparkling wine is the Riedel Burgundy stem.” Also, according to Speer, Moët-Hennessy, which encompasses Chandon and Veuve Cliquot, has “switched exclusively to white wine glasses” when they conduct tastings. Belinda Chang, James Beard Award-winning sommelier and former Champagne educator for Moët-Hennessy shares the same opinion. She said, “Riedel’s Grand Cru Burgundy glass is, I think, one of the most beautiful glasses that’s made in the world … We use a similar shape to pour Dom Pérignon Vintage Rosé Champagnes into.”

So, is that it? Should you never buy a flute? Why are we even writing this guide? Indeed, nice Champagne is best appreciated in a wine glass, but here the parade of caveats begins.

First, what you’re drinking all the time may not technically be Champagne. Champagne is sparkling wine from the region of Champagne in France. It often has smells that other sparkling wines don’t—smells like yeast and toast and strawberry that are delicate and prized. A wine glass helps bring out those aromas, and that’s what our pros are talking about.

Speer said, “With everything that isn’t Champagne, I would almost put it in a price point category. As soon as you get into that $20 to $25 a bottle price range, they all get better in a Burgundy stem. But kind of below that, I find the glassware doesn’t matter as much.”

And even though flutes aren’t necessarily the best shape for the wine according to Riedel, he still sells them in some of his glassware collections because “it’s what the consumer wants.” Beyond the mechanics, flutes are inherently special thanks to the cultural expectations that come with them. They lack the technical qualifications required of a wine glass, but honestly, how beautiful and fun are they to hold? To sip from? The point of a celebration is to do things that might be outside the normal realm of practicality, so we can appreciate the use of a flute for this purpose, even if it is not always the best glass to use.

It’s currently very in vogue to serve sparkling wine in a coupe, a short glass with a wide brim. Our experts have unanimously declared them the absolute worst thing to drink Champagne out of, but their shape remains strangely alluring and is great for cocktails.

Speer commented, “Flutes have been the traditional glass for Champagne for a while now, and were originally designed to combat the problem presented by the coupe, which was the Champagne glass you see in all the old movies. Those glasses are horrible for the nose, because you can’t swirl the wine at all, and horrible for the bubbles, because they’re so wide and shallow the bubbles dissipate really quickly. That being said, they are a lot of fun to drink out of for whatever reason.”

“I think they’re gorgeous,” agreed Chang. “I think they’re great for classic cocktails. But as quickly as the bubbles dissipate, even in the style of glass that I’m recommending to you—a Sauvignon Blanc glass—it’s even crazier in a coupe; you don’t get anything.”

Scientific American reported on a study that endeavored to see if this was scientifically correct. The conclusion was “that there was a much higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the tall flute than the broad coupe.”

When we first published this guide, we set out to answer a few questions about glass traits: Does the shape of the flute influence bubble preservation? Can one glass preserve carbonation longer than another? This was worth finding out. We chose the following glasses for testing specifically because they look so different from each other:

We washed the glasses, polished them, and blew each one out with canned air to ensure the insides were spotless (so bubbles wouldn’t form on particles of dust). We filled each glass with 2 ounces of California sparkling wine, chilled to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Then we backlit the glasses and observed the streams of bubbles rising in each.

In our tests, bubbles in A and D formed all over the glass, and in D there were a couple of big fat ones taking form. This showed that the gas was escaping in chunks and not in a controlled steady stream, which isn’t desirable.

Glasses B and C, the ones with nucleation sites, performed a little differently. There were some pinprick streams lining the outsides of both glasses, but there was more organization happening in these glasses than in A and D. In C there was a thick stream emanating from the center of the glass. B had finer streams coming from the middle of the glass. The controlled streams of bubbles in both B and C showed that these glasses were better at preserving carbonation.

After observing the differences in each glass, we spoke with Leigh Krietsch Boerner, Wirecutter’s science editor who has a doctorate in chemistry, and she gave us a great suggestion—wait 15 minutes after pouring the wine, then toss a Mentos into each glass to accelerate the nucleation process. Basically, whichever glass produces the most fizz is the one that has the most CO₂ remaining, meaning it was able to preserve the carbonation the longest. We did this experiment twice, the first time after letting each pour dissipate for 15 minutes.

You can see some of the reaction here:

We then repeated the experiment after letting a new pour dissipate for 30 minutes and the results were practically identical.

The shape of each glass made it very hard to judge which had more foam. And the GIF above is a decent illustration, but not perfect. The glasses fizzed up at staggered times and for different lengths of times. But after watching the footage and taking some notes, we’d rank them in this order, from least to most effective:

4. The Bormioli (A) had a significantly weaker reaction than any other glass. As you can see in the GIF, it’s absolute chaos inside the glass. However, that’s as exciting as it got. The bubbles formed throughout the glass and not in a focused stream. It almost looks like someone stuck something in there and swirled the liquid around. But nothing has been moved or shaken—the glass has just been sitting there for several minutes. Also, notice that glass A has the least amount of foam on top.

3 and 2. A tie between the Ouverture (C) and the Edge (D). Because glass D has such a tiny surface area inside the flute and glass C has a wider surface area, it’s difficult to determine which glass produced more foam. Regardless, both heads dissipated very quickly. To a much lesser but still noticeable degree than in glass A, the bubbles inside the Edge flute (D) are not making a very compact stream, especially when you compare it with the two glasses that have a rounded or tulip-shaped bowl.

1. The Cuvee Prestige (B) felt like the front-runner. It’s a wide glass, yet still created the thickest head of foam, and that foam sat there for a long time—maybe 10 seconds, though this GIF doesn’t fully represent that.

Lots of foam means lots of carbonation is left, so from this basic observation we came to the conclusion that the Cuvee Prestige was the best at preserving bubbles. And a trumpet-shaped glass is your worst bet for keeping that Champagne fizzy.

After seeing the plumes of bubbles line up in the exact same way in two different experiments, we have to believe that the shape of the bowl has an effect on carbonation. The glasses with the tapered tops and tulip shapes are working overtime to make sure those streams stay where they’re supposed to, and that’s an advantage.