Classic champagne flute
220ml
Pour: Champagne, prosecco and sparkling wine, and a toast for everyone.
Tall and narrow, so the bubbles last. Our everyday flute, and the safe choice for a big toast.
Why the shape matters
The shape of a glass changes how much you pour, how fast a drink warms up, how long bubbles last and how much of the smell reaches you before the first sip. A big bowl lets a red breathe. A narrow flute keeps sparkling wine lively. A tall highball holds enough ice to keep a mixer cold. You do not need a glass for everything, but the right one makes an ordinary drink feel looked after.
The eight styles, and what to pour in them
Palace champagne flute
235ml, Luigi Bormioli
Pour: The toast at the top table, and champagne for a small celebration.
Finer crystal than the Classic, titanium reinforced.
Trumpet flute
About 165ml, Luigi Bormioli
Pour: Sparkling wine through a long reception, bellinis, mimosas and kir royale.
Slim with a flared rim. A smaller pour than a flute, which suits a drink that keeps being topped up.
White wine
440ml Riesling glass, Luigi Bormioli Atelier
Pour: White wine, rosé, and spritzes over ice.
A smaller bowl than the red, so you pour a little at a time and a cold wine stays cold.
Red wine
700ml Merlot bowl, Luigi Bormioli Atelier
Pour: Reds of every kind, from pinot noir to shiraz.
Part of a range designed as a wine tasting glass. The wide bowl gives the wine room to breathe. Pour it about a third full.
Highball
450ml, Luigi Bormioli
Pour: Spirits and mixers, gin and tonic, long cocktails like a mojito, soft drinks and water.
Tall and straight, with room for plenty of ice and mixer.
Pilsner
370ml stemmed, Luigi Bormioli
Pour: Lager, pilsner, pale ale and cider.
Tall and tapered to show the colour and hold the head.
Grappa
100ml long stem, Luigi Bormioli
Pour: Grappa, limoncello, liqueurs, dessert wine and aperitifs.
Small and long stemmed, made for sipping a small pour.
The one most people get wrong
Flutes for the bubbles, not wine glasses. A wine glass has a wide bowl, so sparkling goes flat in it before the speeches are over. For a glass of sparkling, use flutes: the bubbles last longer, the pour is right, and a flute is easy to carry while people walk and talk.
Three drinks that usually end up in the wrong glass
- Beer in a wine glass. It works at a pinch, but a pilsner shows the colour and holds the head, and it is easier to top up.
- Rosé in a big red glass. Use the white wine glass. Smaller pours stay colder, and rosé is best cold.
- Limoncello in a shot glass. It is meant to be sipped after dinner. A grappa glass holds a small, proper pour.
A whole bar from two or three styles
You do not need all eight. Most parties are covered by two or three:
- Two styles, any party: white wine glasses and highballs. Wine of either colour, spirits and mixers, beer at a pinch, soft drinks and water.
- Add a third for a celebration: flutes for the toast.
- A sit-down dinner: white, red and a highball for water at each setting.
Fewer styles means fewer crates, a simpler table and less to think about on the day.
A drinks table that photographs well
- Line glasses up by style, one style to a row, all facing the same way.
- Put the tall glasses at the back and the short ones at the front.
- Keep the crates out of sight. A tablecloth to the floor hides them under the table.
- Give the table one centrepiece, like a drink dispenser or an ice bucket, rather than lots of small things.
- Side light from a window or string lights makes glass sparkle. Light from straight above flattens it.
- Leave a gap for empties, so the good row stays good.
Which glasses suit which event
- Long lunch: white, red, and highballs for water.
- Engagement party: Palace flutes for the toast, white wine glasses, and highballs for spirits and cocktails.
- 40th in the backyard: white, red, pilsners and highballs.
- Wedding: see our wedding glassware page.
Not sure how many of each? The glass calculator works it out, or send us your plans and we will suggest the glasses and quote them.