Champagne Glasses- Acrylic flutes (plastic) and engraved glasses

Champagne drinking has always been associated with a degree of snobbishness, and never more so than over the selection of glasses. Traditionally champagne is served in two types of glasses, flutes and shallow bowls.

But what should you really serve it in? Well, the answer to that is simple, champagne should always be served in a large glass. The whole point of a champagne glass is twofold, firstly to allow the magnificent perfume to fill your senses, and secondly, to let you watch the endless streams of bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass to the top.

The bowl shaped contraptions beloved of babycham adverts are useless for this purpose and should be consigned to the dustbin of history. Flutes are excellent and should be used for any formal occasion, and for weddings or parties the acrylic (plastic) flutes now available are a great choice. They're classy, not at all like a plastic beer glass, and if one gets knocked over you don't have to worry about clearing up broken glass.

But for consuming champagne at home there are far better options than a flute. When I'm relaxing into a bottle, I use a great big rounded Belgian beer glass I got on a trip to Bruges many years ago.  The perfume from the glass is amazing and it wonderfully enhances the pleasure of drinking. Now I'm not suggesting you do this for a wedding reception or a formal dinner, but for a drink at home it's unbeatable.

For special occasions, engraved champagne glasses are often given as gifts. You can get champagne glasses engraved for weddings, wedding anniversaries, engagements and 18th Birthdays. There's a whole range of them shown below.