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Doing bubbles with style

Rayne Embley, Julien Marteau, Chloe Poliwka and Alison Jade. Picture: Simon Santi/The West Australian

There’s a lot more to champagne etiquette than not referring to sparkling wine as “French”.

The dos and don’ts of the world’s most luxurious wine extend to what kind of glass to use and even what to wear while drinking it, according to Julien Marteau of the House of Perrier-Jouet, who is in Perth to offer champagne-etiquette tips to coincide with the launch of PJ Sundays at the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.

“For us there’s a lot of work to be done to educate people to understand the differences between champagne and a sparkling wine,” Marteau explained to AAA.

“What if tomorrow the Italians were calling their wine Margaret River wine. It wouldn’t be right.”

By law, champagne is only that which comes from France’s Champagne region, where 1ha of vineyard is worth almost $1.5 million.

Marteau said champagne should be treated in the right way to get the best out of it.

“The flute is the best vessel to enjoy champagne because you can see the bubbles climbing the glass,” he said.

“If you want the bubbles to last longer, you should tip the flute (when being poured) so it doesn’t foam.”

Holding the flute by the stem would also avoid warming the champagne, he added.

As for the myths? A silver spoon in an opened bottle wouldn’t keep champagne bubbly and while clinked crystal glasses produced an “exceptional sound”, they would not improve the taste.

Leading local blogger and former West Coast WAG Rayne Embley attended the launch of the weekly champagne event at Cott & Co Fish Bar at the hotel yesterday with make-up salon owner Alison Jade and Instagram personality Chloe Poliwka, and said champagne was a favourite for events such as New Year’s Eve and Polo in the Valley — when what to wear was just as important.

“Always wear a nice cocktail dress,” Embley said, adding that drinking too much champagne while wearing anything too revealing could be a recipe for disaster.

Similarly, Marteau said the most important rule had little to do with the champagne itself.

“The people you drink it with — that’s the number one thing,” he said.