A Coupe de Coeur and an Abundance of Crémant

7/31/12 -

I recently bought a couple of coupes. Wikipedia defines these as “a shallow, broad-bowled, stemmed glass, commonly used at wedding receptions, often stacked in layers to build a champagne tower.” It’s popular mythology that these sparkling wine vessels were modeled after Marie-Antoinette’s breast, but we learn that in fact they were devised in Britain, almost a century before her life. Quite popular in the post-prohibition frenzy of the 1930s, the coupe stayed en vogue through the 60s. (Who can forget Claudia Cardinale’s lost inhibitions — no match for David Niven’s powers of persuasion and a few coupes of Champagne in The Pink Panther?) The coupe’s tragic flaw is that is doesn’t work very well for Champagne because the broad bowl encourages the bubbles to dissipate quickly, and swirling the glass to release aromas is rendered impossible by its squat shape. Presently coupes are commonly used for cocktails, and I found them next to the aromatic bitters in my local kitchen store.

I don’t make cocktails, and pouring pricy Champagne into my brand new coupes seemed like a poor idea. (Anyone wishing to relish a fine Champagne should probably pour it into a wine glass.) I used the acquisition of this silly stemware as an excuse to drink basically every non-Champagne French sparkling wine we currently carry. And what a fabulous time I had doing so! As it turns out, we have an excess of great French sparkling wine in stock right now. (Also Prosecco, Lambrusco, Cava, and Sekt; those will be the subjects of other emails.) My exploration and coupe-testing began with François Pinon’s (2009) Brut Rosé - as fabulous a rendition of this as we’ve seen to date. I moved on to Vignes du Maynes’ and Tripoz’ Extra-Brut Crémants de Bourgogne, beautiful wines possessed of the vinous depth and mid-palate complexity of low and sulfur-less wine. As a special treat, we also have 2002 Crémant from Jullien Guillot of Vignes du Mayne, an intriguing bottle that shows interesting differences from — as well as similarities to — long lees-aged Champagne, and at a much lower price. Stéphane Tissot’s Crémant du Jura Extra-Brut has finally arrived and is tasting wonderful. This abundance of sparkles prompted me to put together a mixed six pack for your summer-time drinking enjoyment. I’m not necessarily advocating the purchase of a set of coupes, but I strongly suggest checking out some of these cheery and well-priced bottles. Salut! -Sophie