Champagne glasses are synonymous with life’s celebrations and a symbol of sweet times ahead. But, there is more to champagne glasses than what meets the eye.
As with all stemware, champagne glasses are designed with specific silhouettes to enhance the flavors of your bubbly beverage and draw aromatics to the surface, delivering a satisfying sip each time it hits your lips.
The three most popular champagne glass silhouettes are the flute, the tulip, and the coupe. Each one offers a different drinking experience and impacts the taste and effervescence of your sparkling wine. To learn more about each type, we consulted two professional sommeliers from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Michael Klinger, an advanced sommelier (level three) and the wine director at Supperland, and Mitchell Sayers, a WSET level three sommelier and a private wine experience curator, share a wealth of knowledge to consider while shopping for champagne glasses below.
Shape
If you’re serious about wine tasting, the shape of your glass is important because it impacts the taste and carbonation.
Flutes
If you’re serving a nice or expensive bottle of sparkling wine, flutes may not necessarily be the best option. “They're fine for inexpensive prosecco or mimosas because the point of the flute is to retain the carbonation, which they certainly do a good job of,” Sayers says. “Like all good wine, you should swirl the wine in your glass to properly release and enjoy the aromas.”
“Smell is 80 to 90% of the taste,” Sayers explains. “So, you need a glass big enough to stick your nose in, and that just isn't possible with flutes.”
Klinger agrees that flutes are fine for inexpensive wine, but a wider mouth is needed to experience all of the flavors.
“Flutes look awfully festive, and allow for a nice visual of the bubbles moving up the narrow glass, but are not wide enough to allow for much appreciation of aromas and do not open up the full range of flavors,” he says.
Coupes
Both wine pros agree that you should keep coupes on hand for glam fêtes and photo-ops, but you shouldn’t expect them to maintain your wine’s sparkle for long.
“Coupes are fun and have a Deco-Gatsby appeal, but the bubbles dissipate quickly, and while wider than a flute, they do not concentrate aromas the way a concave tulip or regular wine glass does,” Klinger says.
Coupes, unlike flutes, will cause your sparkling wine to lose carbonation at a faster rate. “Coupes have too much surface area and tend to lose the carbonation too quickly,” Sayers agrees. “Plus, it's almost impossible to swirl the wine in a coupe.”
Tulip
If you’re searching for a champagne glass that will best enhance your bubbly’s bouquet and maintain its carbonation, Klinger and Sayers agree that tulip glasses are the way to go.
“A tulip combines the elevated elegance of the flute with a wider bowl to open up flavors and a concave lip to concentrate aromas,” Klinger explains.
“Tulips are a great middle ground and probably the ideal glass in my opinion,” Sayers says. “They’re narrow enough at the bottom to retain the bubbles but wide enough at the top to enjoy the nose.”
And, if you’re in a pinch, desperate for a pour but don’t have champagne glasses on hand, both sommeliers urge you to reach for a standard white wine glass instead.
“I, like a lot of sommeliers and connoisseurs, actually prefer a universal or regular white wine glass,” Klinger says. “They may not be as eye-catching as the others, but they do allow for the greatest expression of the wine, and a good reminder that Champagne and Sparkling are at their core still wines like any other, full of complex flavors and aromas, not just a vehicle for carbonation!”
What We Researched
After speaking with professional sommeliers, we researched a variety of champagne glasses, considering factors like shape, durability, material, and capacity.
Best Flute Champagne Glasses
The timeless Muse glass champagne flutes from CB2 includes six crystal glasses with a traditional flute silhouette consisting of a tapered bowl and a delicate, elongated stem.
Each flute is handmade by expert artisans to ensure exceptional quality and is available in a clear, smoked, or optic glass crystal finish. The Muse champagne flutes are a part of a CB2 glassware collection, allowing you to build your cabinet with complementary pieces over time.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 9 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Six
These mouth blown champagne flutes from Quince are crafted by artisans and are made in a BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) certified factory, aiming to improve working conditions throughout the supply chain.
The set includes four handcrafted champagne flutes forged from crystal. Each flute features a classic silhouette with a thin rim, a dainty stem, and a bowl designed to enhance your experience as you sip sparkling wine.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 7.78 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Four
If you’re in the market to invest in heirloom-quality flutes, the Waterford elegance champagne flutes are our top recommendation. Each flute is handmade from Waterford’s finest luxury crystal and features a narrow bowl, encouraging bubbles to rise to the rim for an effervescent experience. The flutes are held by elegant, hand-pulled stems showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship.
PDc88c906-dd22-4e5b-b116-f34e5302e4daroduct Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 8 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Two or six
Sip your prosecco from the contemporary and glamorous Waterfall Flutes by Anthropologie. Each set includes four handcrafted crystalline flutes in five colorways: clear, pink, mint, honey, or blue.
While the clear Waterfall flute is transparent, the four color options sport a hand-painted ombre finish, lending the glasses a festive and trendy appeal. Better still, sipping from these flutes will feel like a luxurious experience as each comes finished with a metallic 24-karat gold rim.
Product Details: Material: Hand-painted crystalline, 24k gold | Capacity: 11.75 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Four
Klinger offers some safety advice on opening a bottle of sparkling wine.
“I must emphasize the importance of never taking your hand off the cork once you start loosening the cage,” Klinger says. “Holding the bottle at a 45-degree angle alleviates some pressure, and always hold the cork firmly and turn the bottle from the base, don't try twisting the cork itself off.”
Best Tulip Champagne Glasses
The Willsberger champagne set from Crate & Barrel includes four crystal glasses from the celebrated German glassmaker, Spiegelau. Each champagne glass is machine-made with an exquisite structure that mirrors its hand-blown counterparts but without their innate fragility.
In fact, you can throw the hardwearing Willsberger set into your dishwasher and return it to your cabinet without so much as looking at a dish glove.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 9 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Four
The Riedel Dom Perignon champagne flute is chic, simple, and features a sommelier-approved silhouette for maximizing your drinking experience. The sparkling crystal flute features the quintessential tulip shape: a wide bowl and narrow rim.
Each dishwasher-safe glass features an elongated stem and flat-edge rim, lending it a luxuriously delicate look that contradicts its durable design.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 15 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: One
The Josephine № 4 tulip glasses by Josephinenhütte are a luxurious addition to your glassware collection. Each Josephine tulip champagne glass is mouth-blown and features a wide surface area to enhance flavors and a narrow chimney to ensure a long-lasting mousse.
The makers at Josephinenhütte use traditional art of glassmaking techniques and finesse to produce glasses with luxurious thin walls, a pointed base for even effervescence, and an elongated stem that keeps hands from the nose while sipping and preserves the aroma of the champagne.
Product Details: Material: Glass | Capacity: 13.5 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Two, six, 12, 18, or 24
The Duke crystal champagne glasses offer top quality and impressive durability without spending top dollar. The dishwasher-safe glasses are sold in sets of four and feature a quintessential tulip silhouette. Each glass features a generous bowl that enhances the sparkling wine’s bouquet and a fine, tapered rim that slows the release of bubbles to maximize your enjoyment with each sip.
The glasses are each pulled from one piece of crystal glass for an elegant, minimalist structure. They have thin walls with exceptional sparkle and a pristine clarity that allows bubbly to shine through.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 10.5 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Four
Sayers reminds us that the temperature of champagne matters.
“I see a lot of champagne served too cold. It should not be chilled,” he says. “The typical recommendation is 45 to 50 degrees, but if it's a vintage Champagne, more complex, and fuller bodied, I will enjoy it even warmer than that, sometimes closer to 55 degrees. I will reiterate that the best champagnes are, first and foremost, great wines, so I actually enjoy them when they lose a bit of carbonation and warm up in my glass.”
Best Coupe Champagne Glasses
Bring retro glamour to your bar cart with the help of the Wolcott Optic coupe from Crate & Barrel. The fluted glass design features a broad saucer bowl and a bamboo-inspired stem reminiscent of Palm Beach regency style.
It holds 7 ounces of your favorite champagne cocktail or frozen treat. Plus, each glass is dishwasher safe and sold individually, allowing you to build your collection based on your entertaining needs.
Product Details: Material: Glass | Capacity: 7 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: One
If you’re looking for a more modern take on the Deco-derived coupe glass, the Eve coupe glasses from CB2 sport chic fluting details. They’re sold in sets of eight, making it easy for you to stock up with glassware for all your future fêtes.
Each coupe is hand-blown from clear soda lime glass and features a flat rim for smooth sips. A fluted optic texture adds dimension and sparkle that’s so pretty, you’ll want to leave it out on display between events just to get a glimpse.
Product Details: Material: Glass | Capacity: 10 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: One, four, or eight
The Williams Sonoma Reserve optic coupe glasses are hardworking and versatile coupes designed for champagne, martinis, brandy, and more. The mouth-blown clear crystal coupes were designed in-house alongside expert sommeliers, chefs, and winemakers to ensure maximum comfort and quality.
The formal coupes are polished using specialty techniques to reveal a reflective, opalescent finish. The crystal glasses are hand wash only and are sold individually or as a set of two.
Product Details: Material: Crystal | Capacity: 10 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: One, two
Color outside the lines with the antique-inspired Estelle glass champagne coupes. The pretty and prismatic coupes are always party-ready thanks to their classic silhouette and statement-making colorways.
The celebrated Estelle glasses are sold in a set of six and come in eight showy hues: black, blush pink, mint green, lavender, rose, red, cobalt blue, and yellow. If you can’t decide on one shade, you can brighten your bar with a rainbow set that includes six of their staple colors. Plus, every hue features a dreamy iridescent sheen that’s sure to elevate life’s celebrations.
Product Details: Material: Glass | Capacity: 8.25 ounces | Number of Glasses in Set: Six
Who We Are
Maria Conti is a contributing home and lifestyle writer for Better Homes & Gardens and HGTV, with eight years of writing product reviews and shopping guides for digital home publications. She spent several hours comparing prices, materials, capacities, and design to determine the best champagne flutes and coupes for every style and occasion. Maria also consulted Michael Klinger, Advanced Sommelier (Level 3) and the Wine Director, and Mitchell Sayers, WSET Level 3 Sommelier and private wine event curator.
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