How to pour

Two stages · slowly · tilted glass keeps more CO2

The Comité Champagne advises pouring champagne in two stages, slowly and steadily, which keeps the collar and the stream of bubbles longer.1,2 Laboratory tests add that pouring down the side of a tilted glass keeps more dissolved CO2 than pouring straight down.3

The official advice

Pour in two stages, slowly and steadily, with the glass left on the table. The Comité Champagne says this keeps the collar and the stream of bubbles longer.1,2

What the lab adds

In a 2010 study, champagne poured straight into the middle of a flute at 4 °C lost 3.0 g/L of dissolved CO2. Poured gently down the wall of a tilted glass, it lost 1.6 g/L.3 The tilted pour kept more CO2 at every temperature tested, but its advantage shrank as the wine got warmer.3

Champagne temperatureVertical pourTilted pour
4 °C3.0 g/L lost1.6 g/L lost
12 °C3.3 g/L lost2.0 g/L lost
18 °C4.0 g/L lost3.7 g/L lost

The lab tilted the glass; the Comité leaves it on the table. Both agree on a slow pour, and the data show that cold wine loses less CO2 either way. The full results are on pouring and CO2 loss.

See also

Pouring and CO2 lossScienceServing temperatureServingGlassesServingFoam and collarScienceOpening a bottleServing

Sources

  1. Comité Champagne (champagne.education). Factsheet: Champagne Service (EN) (2024)
  2. Comité Champagne (champagne.education). Store and serve Champagne (web page)
  3. American Chemical Society (article PDF hosted on acs.org). Liger-Belair G., Bourget M., Villaume S., Jeandet P., Pron H., Polidori G. On the losses of dissolved CO2 during champagne serving. J. Agric. Food Chem. 58(15): 8768-8775. DOI 10.1021/jf101239w (2010-07-13)

Facts checked on 2026-10-19