Amazing episode of Mad Men this week. “Conney,” the man for whom Don made an Old Fashioned with rye, turns out to be Conrad Hilton. Sally worries baby Gene is a reincarnation of her grandpa. And oh, then there’s that little moment at the office party when new boss Guy McKendrick’s foot is sliced off when a secretary loses control of the John Deere tractor she’s commandeered. (“Just when he got his foot in the door.” Love that Roger Sterling.)

What a scene: The blood splattering when the John Deere hits a row of ad men. Peggy fainting. Joan using those “brains in her fingers” to tie the tourniquet. (Must she do everything?!)

But there is a quieter moment at the party when Peggy and Don are standing together, glasses of champagne in their hands. Peggy remarks that the champagne is good. “I don’t think so,” Don replies. In a rare instance of transparency, Don betrays actual disappointment. He has gotten his hopes up about living in London part-time (again, the dream of new beginnings, escaping the “carousel” of life) and those hopes have just been dashed. The champagne is not good. Peggy, who remains optimistic that the re-org might represent some unknown opportunity for her, says she’s going to get some food. She goes off to dig in.

Don is called to a meeting with Hilton—a reminder that sometimes disappointment is followed by an unforeseen opportunity. You can wake up with one life and go to bed with another one entirely, a theme that Joan (whose own fate just took a hairpin turn) sums up nicely. “That’s life," she tells Don. "One minute you’re on top of the world; next minute, some secretary’s running you over with a lawn mower.”

Always present through all this, of course, is the fact that it’s the early 1960s. In a quick moment during the party, three ad men discuss the conflict in Vietnam. “They’re not drafting anyone” one says to another “and besides, you’re too old.” The world is about to change, and none of the characters sees it coming.

Exciting episode, Mad Men is definitely earning those Emmies. But seeing as we’re here to talk about drinking, let’s return for a moment to that champagne. Or more precisely, to the vessels out of which the Sterling Cooper staff is drinking champagne. They’re called champagne coupe glasses, and they are terrible for serving champagne because the wide bowl allows precious bubbles to escape quickly, whereas a flute-shape glass traps the bubbles to keep your sparkler intact. They are, however, a stylish and user-friendly alternative to martini glasses, which are a little too Sex in the City for our current cultural sensibilities. Also, with the cone-shaped martini glasses, things start to get a little sloshy after one or two cocktails. Not so with coupes. They’re abundant and cheap at flea markets and antique shops. I’ve seen some great ones at Aurora Antique Pavillion.

What sparkling wine recs? Find four here.