The champagne angle

A patient's observation led us to investigate whether drinking from a champagne flute required more cranio-cervical extension than drinking from other types of wine glasses. We measured the cranio-cervical extension required by normal volunteers to drink from four different types of glass. The mean [95% confidence intervals] extension from the neutral position required to drain each glass was: narrow flute 40 degrees [35-44]; wide flute 22 degrees [19-25]; wine glass 26 degrees [24-29]; champagne saucer 0 degree [-1-2]. Drinking from the narrow rimmed champagne flute required significantly more extension than the other types of glass (p < 0.001), and 73% of the total available cranio-cervical extension.