We are at the end of another year of work. We might have reached some or all the goals for this year. We have put efforts in keeping the good friends near us and manage to stay healthy, or have helped someone in the process. We have passed good and bad moments and we might had had some challenges to overcome. It has been another year and another chapter. Life situations are such that we have everything to celebrate and to be grateful. This is the month for bubbles to celebrate life and the new lights coming.
For exciting celebrations, we need special glasses. Some glasses will alter the taste of the bubbles and some will improve it. We can choose the Coupe, the Flute or the Tulip shape glasses to fill with our favorite bubbles.
The Coupe shape, or otherwise called Champagne Saucer was in vogue in the early 1900s, became most popular in the extravagant years of the ’20s with the Great Gatsby and remained popular until the ’60s. However, before the roaring ’20s, someone else in the upper crust of French society, thought of making the coupe champagne glass very famous. She was the beautiful and famous French Marquise Madame Pompadour, a valued aide and court advisor, but also a mistress of the King of France, Louis XV, from 1745 to 1751. She was a patron of architecture, decorative arts, porcelain and a patron of philosophers. The gossip columns of the era mention that Madame Pompadour, in love with beautiful things, lent her breast to a glass designer to make a mold of her breast and thus to create the Champagne coupe glass. The picture below speaks for itself. This fun 8×10 print is available at Meluseena on Etsy goo.gl/tUhHzq
(Click on each photo to view it better).
Is this a myth? I don’t know. It is an amusing tale and I like to tell it. Apparently in more modern times, other famous women have lent their breasts for the same reason. Claudia Schiffer loaned her left breast to a Karl Lagerfeld-designed ceramic coupe for Dom Perignon in 2008.
I like my champagne or sparkling wines very fizzy, I am sure many people do too, but the bubbles in the coupe glass dissipate quickly. Before they go totally flat, one must drink up fast and that’s not the scope of a pleasurable drink. Pleasurable moments, holding a nice piece of glass with bubbles come in small sips.
I have a coupe glass set I use to drink foreign blond beers and for cold desserts.
The flute, today is considered a classy, sophisticated glass for sparkling wines. Pouring the sparkling wine in this glass, let the bubbles sink at the bottom, then quickly rise to the top and immediately delivery a fuzziness to the nose. We have grown accustomed to this visual impact.
The tulip, just like the flower, is an elegant glass shape, it has a wider aperture at the top, maintains bubbles fizzy until the glass is empty and allows a better development of the aroma of the wine. The bubbles will touch different parts of the tongue, instead of going directly to the nose.
As far as juicy stories, the flute and the tulip glasses have none that I know.
In a nice piece of glass, one can feel and hear the work of those who made it; holding it, is like holding a piece of art. Enjoy bubbles all year around and celebrate even when there is nothing to celebrate.
My next TV show Drink Up will be December 8, 2017 with a young sommelier as a guest. Nicole Stevenson, will mix non-alcoholic drinks for those people who can’t drink for one reason or another, but still want to be part of the festivities.
Happy Christmas. Ciao,
Valentina
Valentina Designs Universe TV Channel https://goo.gl/2tbN3N
Copyright © 2017 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Most often she designs kitchens and wine grottos; outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms; great rooms and entertainment rooms. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Finally, she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory, in which she included one recipe for each color. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
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