How many bottles of champagne are needed for 20 people?

There is a reception tonight and you have chosen to celebrate with champagne, what a great idea! But how do you know how many bottles of champagne you’ll need? Discover our advice to adjust the bottles of champagne to be chilled.

The perfect amount
for a reception

You should know that a standard 75 cl bottle of champagne can serve 6 champagne flutes of 12.5 cl. From these quantities you will be able to organise the number of bottles of champagne you need. Count the number of guests you are going to welcome, in this case we are assuming 20 guests. For your part, consider counting the number of people who drink alcohol, excluding children and pregnant women.

How many glasses of champagne
per person?

You must plan for 2 glasses of champagne per person to accompany the canapés served at the reception. Also consider fruit juices and fizzy juice for the kids.

You don’t need to bring 50 bottles of course, but it is always better to order a little more. So bring 2 or 3 extra bottles just in case. Also, pay attention to the glasses you are going to use. It doesn’t matter if you go for flutes or champagne glasses, they both hold 12.5 cl.

On the other hand, if you opt for tasting wine glasses, which are very trendy at the moment, you should know that the capacity is more significant. These glasses contain 15 cl and can only serve 5 glasses as opposed to 6 for the classic flutes.

Play with the formats
of bottles

To serve 14 bottles of champagne, you can have fun juggling the size of the bottles. You can certainly opt for the classic 75 cl bottle, in which case you will need 14, and even a little more if you plan to serve it generously. But you can also go for larger sizes, especially the magnum which contains 2 bottles. You will then need 7. The Jeroboam contains 3 litres, or 4 standard bottles of champagne. Its format is ideal for making beautiful champagne fountains. And you can even offer a single bottle, the Balthazar which contains 16 classic bottles. A remarkable format but a little more complicated to manage when serving

Tips
to remember

Be aware that aperitif dinners or reception wines encourage greater alcohol consumption. Everyone is standing up, strolling around with their drinks, and nibbling. Conversely, during a sit-down meal, alcohol consumption is lower, simply because it is more balanced between the dishes and the wine.  Don’t forget to bring bottles of water to quench guests’ thirst.

Finally, if you have any bottles of champagneleft over, put them in a dark, temperate place, ideally in the cellar. If you don’t have a cellar, put them back in their original box. If the bottles are opened, seal them with an airtight cork and place them in the refrigerator. They must be consumed within 24 hours. Forget placing a spoon in the neck, it has no effect on the conservation of champagne!