Is Older Champagne Best Enjoyed In A Flute?

The trend to drink Champagne in a larger glass (which I do and recommend) is obviously to be able to more fully aerate the wine. And with younger Champagnes this usually makes for a more enjoyable experience. But conversely, with older Champagne, the extra aeration seems to make the experience less focused and considerably shorter than if drunk in a flute. Anyone have any experience with this?

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I’d be interested in Francois Audouze’s take on this, since he does have a lot of experience with older champagnes.

Just drink 'em directly from the bottle if you’re worried about aeration champagne.gif

I like them in a Zalto white Burg glass.

I find flutes mute off aromas of a past prime champagne. Lately I’ve been using Grassl mineralite for bubbles but I did use a flute for an old sparkler that my parents kept way too long. Tasted like sweet sourdough batter. Extra cold and into flutes and it was, well, passable.

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Is this a Land down under special edition? Or just the Zalto white wine glass?

This is a good question. I have moved to the Zalto Universal for most Champagne, although I also use Grassl 1855, especially for younger Champagnes.

I use the Gabriel Golds with good champs.

We use the Zalto dessert wine glass for older champagnes. Its tulip shaped which I think is helpful but has a smaller rim diameter than a white glass, but not as narrow as a flute… I’ve tried older champagnes (30+yr) in a variety of glasses side by side, and I would agree that too big of a bowl doesnt work, but the narrow flute shape accentuated sharper, unpleasant notes for me. So I like a middle ground.

I love the Zalto champagne glasses. I wouldn’t use a flute because I like sticking my nose in the glass. I am willing to sacrifice bubbles

A flute? Wouldn’t the champagne leak out through all the holes?

[snort.gif]

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seems the reason to use a bigger bowl is about enhancing the nose vs additional aeration? where too much air can certainly oxidize an old and fragile wine (in MY experience, I am certainly no francois) I can’t see wanting to nose an old champagne less…

Champagne is not one of my first, second , or even third grabs. Just other interests. That said, its more than the taste for me, its the pageantry and the etiquette.

I need a flute here. My favorites are a pair of thick, gaudy, gold-brimmed, Italian, leaded-crystals I bought at 25 years old in an antique shop in San Diego with the eventual to be Mrs. That’s been part our every New Years moment, and an accompaniment to any rai·son d’ê·tre where Champagne plays a role.

Our Pageantry

To each their own, but certainly hope you are staying in your swim lane of mass produced factory champagne. Yellow Label is perfect for your pageant. :slight_smile: No need to raise demand on the good stuff.

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Oh Yes, of course… Andre, Mums… you just hold that credit card nice and tight and wait right there patiently. I’ll certainly not take anything out of your cart. [pwn.gif]

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I follow your thinking on this Michael and it seems to make sense although I have completely gone away from using flutes with a stash of probably 40 or more which I only save for that special occasion where tradition might rule out better choices for champagne {I’ve yet to have that occasion, but think it is still possible}.
I`m so enamored with the Sopheinwald The Champagne glass, that I use it for everything bubbly, young and old: THE CHAMPAGNE | The Perfect Glass

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that or a Gabriel gold

I use all sorts of glasses, depending on the champagne. I have a fondness for the Riedel Veritas Champagne glasses. Are they flutes? Kind of, I suppose, but I find that they are often the best nonetheless, when comparing. They give enough surface area, yet taper to focus the nose. For very old champagne though, I tend to just still white wine glasses - like the Riedel Superleggero Riesling glass - nothing too big.

I attended a Krug tasting many, many years ago. (M@tt C00per, who was active on WCWN as The Mad Scientist, organized the event.) My memory is fuzzy, but I believe the Krug rep brought a 750 of the brut, a 750 of the rose, and magnums of the 1988 and 1990. That was 6 bottles worth of Krug for a very small group of tasters. At the end of the night, Matt and I were each drinking directly from a different (mostly empty) magnum. It was a memorable and ridiculous way to end the night. But, alas, it was suboptimal from a wine drinking perspective.