We usually drink wine to celebrate an event, bring more joy and fun to our lives, and savor the beautiful aroma and taste wine is famous for. Several factors determine how delicious and flavor-rich wine seems to us. Those include the sort of wine, its serving temperature, and kind of glass. You will find innumerable wine glass varieties of all sizes and shapes at every restaurant or bar you visit. Still, experts can classify them into a few basic groups.
1. Glasses for white wine
The main characteristics of white wine glasses:
- Relatively small.
- Straight bowl. A bowl like this keeps the wine temperature low enough, allowing you to feel the aroma to the full.
- Tall stem. Again, this helps the temperature stay at a low level longer. That’s because you don’t have to put your hand around the bowl, causing the glass and wine to lose their coolness.
Glasses for white wine are further divided into two groups:
- Glasses for crisp wine that has been recently made. Their wider opening allows the wine to get to the front part of the mouth so that you can feel its sweet taste.
- Glasses for older wine with a stronger flavor. They are not so wide as the first category, and taller. That sends more robust wine farther into your mouth.
Fill around two-thirds of a glass for white wine in order to maintain the right temperature and simultaneously savor the aroma.
2. Glasses for red wine
Red wine glasses have these properties:
- They are larger and have a rounder shape than those used for white wine. This is because red wine needs to “breathe,” or get into a close contact with the oxygen. That way they release their rich aromas and reduce the level of bitter tannins.
- They have a wider opening. This allows you to get your nose over the wine to appreciate its bouquet.
- They have a shorter stem in comparison with white wine glasses. This is because red wine doesn’t have to be as cool as white wine. It’s usually served at the room temperature or a little lower.
- They can have a tapered rim.
Like white wine glasses, red wine glasses fall into two main categories.
- Those used for mature wine. As red wine is more robust, a glass for them has a less tapered rim. Thanks to that, aromas are directed to the nose more precisely. Besides, the glass is taller. It helps send the wine toward the back of the tongue so that you can feel the flavor better.
- Those used for younger wines. They have a more tapered rim and shorter stem. Along with a bigger bowl, it helps wine get to the front of the mouth so that you can feel the finer taste of young red wine.
It’s recommended to fill a glass for red wine to a third of its bowl size. That way you can swirl the wine to feel the aroma better without the risk of spilling the precious liquid.
3. Glasses for sparkling wine
Glasses for fizzy wine have these attributes:
- Slim and upright. This helps carbon dioxide bubbles remain in the glass for a longer period. It also lets you feel the aroma and taste longer.
- They have a tall stem. That’s because sparkling wine needs to remain cool (like white wine). Keeping the bowl in your hand increases the temperature of the glass, albeit slightly, and correspondingly the wine.
- May be tapered. Again, this keeps the bubbles in the drink longer. However, a typical glass for serving Champagne called “flute” is straight.
4. Glasses for dessert wine
Glasses for dessert wine are distinguished by the following characteristics:
- Small size. As dessert wines are very sweet, they should be directed right to the back of the mouth. That’s why glasses for them are small.
- Short and thick stem. This helps avoid warming up the wine from your hand.
Regardless of the sort of wine, professionals recommend glasses made of clear glass. That allows you to fully enjoy the color of the wine. You can find information on other kinds of wine glasses in this article.
