I tend to drink more bubbly in the warmer weather. Everyone seems to drink their sparkling wine out of flutes (the long slender glasses). This is fine for the cheapo bubbly, but not for the good stuff. Top Champagne producers will tell you to drink high quality sparkling wine out of a regular wine stem. This allows more aromas to be released.
The design of the champagne flute is meant to hold more of the carbonation in, while leaving no space to capture the aromas of the wine. So with a cheap bubbly that tends to go flat quickly, the champagne flute will increase its longevity . With high end sparklers, the carbonation is well integrated, so it won’t go flat quickly.
One of the best ways to judge the quality of a sparkling wine is to look at the bubbles. High quality bubbly will have many tiny bubbles, which usually form many intricate streams in the glass. It should have so many bubbles, you couldn’t possibly count them. The cheap stuff has large bubbles, usually because the wine is artificially carbonated.
SPARKLING WINE SERVICE TIPS:
- Get the sparkling wine ice cold, as it will retain its carbonation better
- Remove the foil, and twist the cage free (usually 6 turns) so it’s loose. But DON’T completely remove the cage
- Using a small towel, cover the cage and use it for grip
- Hold the bottle at a 45° angle, pointed away from anyone
- Gripping the towel and cage tightly, slowly twist the bottle, not the cork
- As the cork begins to push out, let it out slowly. The goal is to release the cork with absolutely no pop, only a little “hiss”
