How many glasses in a bottle of champagne for a successful party?

Champagne, that magical bubbly liquid, is the drink of choice for both intimate and large-scale celebrations. Calculating how much you need for a celebration or a party is not easy. Follow the guide to get the answer to this crucial question: how many glasses in a bottle of champagne?

The basics: 1 bottle of champagne for how many people?

The traditional capacity for 1 classic bottle is 75 cl. Cristal d’Arques champagne flutes can hold 12.5 cl each. This brings us to about 6 glasses for a standard bottle. And what about the champagne glasses? Don’t worry, the glasses are designed to hold the same amount of liquid as a flute, i.e. 12.5 cl each. The half-bottle, which is very popular with small groups, contains half the standard quantity: 37.5 cl. On this basis, the question of how many glasses the guests will drink is usually raised. It all depends on how the event is set up and what is to be served. If the bubbly drink is the only drink served at the event, then an average of 4-5 flutes per person is required. However, if it is only served as an aperitif or dessert, you should limit yourself to 2 flutes per guest.

Small groups: how many bottles for 5 people?

Gathering 5 people around the table is most often done for a meal with friends or a small family party. Here again, to determine the number of bottles of champagne to provide, everything depends on the drinks planned for the festivities. If you decide to sparkle champagne only at the beginning of the meal, or only for dessert, 2 flutes stamped Cristal d’Arques per person will be enough. A magnum size will also do perfectly, as it holds 1.5 litres. If, on the other hand, you are planning an “all champagne” meal, 4 bottles should be brought out, and ideally 5 to quench the thirsts of the most demanding.

For a larger party of a dozen people 

12 people together, this corresponds to a nice medium-sized event, or a big dinner at home. Once again, we start with 4 flutes per person if champagne is the only drink consumed, and 2 flutes if the tasting only takes place at the beginning of the festivities or at the end of the event. In the first case, this gives 8 classic bottles, or 4 magnums. In the second case, 4 classic bottles or 2 magnums are needed. Be careful, however: the more guests you have, the more you can drink, because of the knock-on effect. In either case, don’t hesitate to provide a “safety” bottle or two.

The pressure increases: up to how many bottles for 20 people?

When 20 people are involved, you definitely leave the sphere of intimacy and enter the world of receptions. A celebration for 20 people implies larger quantities, solid organisation, and increased safety margins. Paradoxically, organising such an event can be less stressful than an intimate meal, as the number of people present generates a “background noise” that helps to dissipate any unease, especially when people don’t know each other well. As far as champagne is concerned, in such a configuration, one should avoid serving only this alcohol. In addition, the possibility of people enjoying this drink only moderately is maximised, so it is best to vary and reserve the Champagne wine for the opening of the festivities or the end. In this case, a little more than 6 bottles, served in Cristal d’Arques glasses, will be necessary. We therefore increase this to 8 to cover all eventualities.

Large events: how many bottles of champagne for 50 people?

50 people to gather and content brings the party into another dimension. It could be a wedding, or a large reception with a caterer, for example. Here too, at this level of scale, we absolutely avoid «all champagne». Although this sumptuous liquid is the king of alcohols, its appreciation differs from person to person, especially when we gather so many people. The «total champagne» remains to be preferred for a limited number of guests whose tastes are well known. So we take care to serve it only as an aperitif, ideally in its «raw» version, or for dessert, accompanied by sweets, in its semi-dry version, therefore sweeter. For about fifty guests, 17 bottles should be enough for each guest to enjoy two flutes. So there will be a relatively large margin, which brings the number to 20.

What about the rest? 

If you plan to serve other alcoholic beverages to your guests in addition to champagne, especially non-sparkling wine, the same question arises: how many glasses can you serve with one bottle? Champagne, non-sparkling wine, same answer: the capacity of a bottle of traditional wine is the same as that of a good quality classic champagne. The standard 75 cl capacity is the most common. If the champagne is served as an aperitif or with dessert, the red or white wine (or both, depending on the food served) will accompany the dishes. In this case, the calculation is based on one glass of Cristal d’Arques type wine per person and per type of dish (i.e. two to three glasses per person, depending on whether the meal includes one or two starters and a main course).

Knowing how much champagne to plan for a celebration can be a little stressful, but it’s actually quite easy. If you follow the advice to anticipate the number of people attending and the use of the alcohol (as an aperitif, for dessert, or in its entirety), the resulting calculation is extremely simple. All that’s left is to allow for a small margin, and pop the cork!