The
champagne flute (French:
) is a stem glass with either a tall tapered conical shape or elongated slender bowl, generally holding about of liquid. The earliest examples of flute-like glasses date back to the
Roman era. In
modern times those made at
Murano near
Venice, being of fine
craftsmanship, greatly grew in popularity during the 16th century and were subsequently exported and mimicked in
England and the
Netherlands. During the late 17th century it was aggressively promoted as "the glass of fashion" by
Charles de Saint-Évremond, while he was in exile at the court of
Charles II, and its popularity grew as a champagne glass throughout the 18th century in England and
France. The champagne flute was developed along with other wine
stemware in the early 18th century as the preferred shape for sparkling wine as materials for drinking vessels shifted from metal and ceramic to glassware. Initially, the flute was tall,
conical, and slender; by the 20th century, preferences changed from a straight-sided glass to one which curved inward slightly near the lip. This inward taper is designed to retain champagne's signature
carbonation by reducing the
surface area for it to escape.
Nucleation in a champagne glass helps form the wine's bubbles; too much surface area allows carbonation to fizzle out quickly. More bubbles create greater texture in the taster's mouth, and a flute's deep bowl allows for greater visual effect of bubbles rising to the top. The flute's narrow cross-section also minimizes the oxygen-to-wine ratio, which enhances both the wine's aroma and taste. While most commonly used for sparkling wines, flutes are also used for certain beers, especially
fruit beers and Belgian
lambics and
gueuzes. The flute shows off the beer's color, and helps gather the aroma for the nose. The champagne flute is distinguished from the
pilsner glass, which lacks a stem. == Coupe ==