Magnum Champagne: the size, the glasses and why it tastes better

The short answer: a magnum of Champagne holds 1.5 litres, the same as two standard 75 cl bottles. It pours twelve flutes of 12.5 cl, the serving the Champagne trade body uses. And according to that same body, the Comité Champagne, a magnum gives the wine better ageing conditions than a standard bottle.

A magnum also changes the table. Nobody remembers the second bottle; everybody remembers the magnum.

A magnum in numbers

• Size: 1.5 litres, two standard bottles.
• Glasses: twelve flutes of 12.5 cl, or ten more generous 15 cl glasses.
• Serving temperature: 8–10°C, as for any Champagne.
• Made in the magnum itself: under the Champagne rules, wine in a standard bottle or a magnum must be sold in the same bottle in which it had its second fermentation, the one that makes the bubbles. Some smaller formats and all larger ones may be filled by transfer.

Why Champagne is better in a magnum

The Comité Champagne says the bottle size influences how the wine develops, and that a magnum gives it better ageing conditions than a standard bottle. The explanation sommeliers usually give: the neck and cork are about the same size as a standard bottle's, but there is twice as much wine behind them, so the wine meets relatively less oxygen and changes more slowly. That is why collectors look for magnums when they want a Champagne to age.

For a party tonight, the difference is mostly the theatre. For a wine you want to keep for years, the magnum is the format to buy.

Champagne bottle sizes

Even bigger ones exist, up to the 30-litre Melchizedek. Most of the names come from the Bible, a custom the Champagne houses started in the 19th century; nobody knows exactly why. Careful outside Champagne: some of these names are used for different volumes in other regions, such as Bordeaux.

How to chill and serve a magnum

• Chill it longer than a bottle. Twice the wine takes longer to cool. An ice bucket filled with ice and water chills far faster than ice alone.
• Open it gently. Keep a thumb or a napkin over the cork at all times, point the bottle away from people, and turn the bottle, not the cork. The cork should leave with a sigh, not a bang.
• Pour like a sommelier. Hold the magnum low, at the base, with your thumb in the punt and your fingers spread underneath. Steady the neck with your other hand and a napkin.
• Pour in two goes: a little first, let the foam settle, then top up. You keep more bubbles and spill nothing.
• Choose the glass: a tall, tulip-shaped glass or a good universal wine glass, which lets the aromas gather. See the best wine glasses.

Which Champagnes come in magnum?

A magnum is a bottle size, not a quality level. Many Champagne houses and growers fill some of their wines in magnum, from the non-vintage brut to vintage and prestige cuvées. Ask your wine shop what they can find, and buy it from a shop that stores it well. Hosting the evening? My sip like a pro guide covers serving, glasses and the rest.

Questions people ask