How To Properly Hold a Champagne Glass

Raising a glass of champagne to toast the happy couple is an integral part of wedding celebrations. This is why it is essential to hold your champagne glass properly.

You should first choose a champagne flute or coupe to serve your champagne. While the flute glass is the most traditional, a coupe glass with a broader bowl will enhance champagne’s aromas and subtle complexities.

Because champagne is best served chilled, it makes sense that holding the glass by the stem instead of the bowl will prevent the heat from your hands from warming the drink.

However, people now serve champagne from many different glasses styles, so here is how to hold a champagne glass according to its type.

1: Hold by the stem

Elegant champagne flute glasses have thin stems that you should pinch between your thumb and all four fingers. You should hold the middle of the stem with a light and comfortable grip.

• You don’t need to cock your little finger when drinking. This may be seen as pretentious.
• You can let your ring finger and little finger rest on the bottom of the glass.
• You can hold your champagne glass in either hand.

2: Mistakes to avoid

Avoid holding the bowl of your champagne glass. Holding the bowl will warm the champagne and make it less refreshing to drink. Champagne is best served chilled, and the heat from your hand will transfer to the glass quicker when holding the bowl.

• The bubbly nature of chilled champagne is lost much quicker when using a coupe glass with a wide rim and bowl. Champagne is meant to be drank swiftly while still chilled and bubbly.
• Coupe glasses are preferred over flutes because they deliver a much more flavourful and refreshing champagne drink experience but are not the best choice for making long, drawn-out speeches and toasts at weddings.
• Flutes glasses make a better choice for back to back wedding speeches.

3: Sipping your champagne

The elegant way to drink champagne is to gently tilt your wrist to take a sip.

• Turn your glass to a 45-degree angle to avoid spilling your champagne.
• Take small, elegant sips rather than long gulps.

4: Holding your glass while talking

Drinking champagne at social events such as weddings and parties will mean spending a lot of time talking instead of drinking. It can be more comfortable to rest your champagne glass between your ring finger and little finger when you are deep in conversation and not drinking.

• Place the stem of your champagne glass between your last two fingers. This gives you more opportunity to hold other items, such as a plate of food.
• Place a napkin between your second and middle fingers. This will help prevent heat from your hand from transferring to the glass, and the napkin will catch any drips of condensation from the glass.

Champagne flutes are chosen because of their lightweight, elegant style and thin stems. They are good for watching bubbles rise up the glass. However, flutes are easier to spill than more rounded champagne glasses.

Coupe champagne glasses are an excellent choice for making champagne towers when you want to make a showstopping display. Their wide bowls are ideal for glugging champagne at its best while chilled and bubbly.

If you really cannot decide between a champagne flute or coupe, then why not choose a tulip style glass, which is an elegant combination of both. It has a narrow rim with a rounded bowl designed to maximise both the flavour and bubbly nature of champagne.