The Importance of Wine Glasses: A Journey from Simple Beginnings to Sophistication
I remember watching my grandmother sip red wine from a juice glass, poured from a gallon jug with a handle. There were no fancy wine glasses with stems in her house—or in my parent’s home either. The first time I recall seeing my parents use a real wine glass was in the 1960s at the Brotherhood Winery in upstate New York. I remember because they were so excited that they could bring them home. Wow.
Today, wineries everywhere still provide wine glasses in various sizes and shapes, stemmed and not. And if you buy a glass with the winery’s name on it, you can take it home as a souvenir. As more people learn about different wines and visit wineries, many still find themselves sipping wine from small-stemmed wine glasses provided by tasting rooms. I always find it amusing, though without showing it, watching tasters try to swirl wine in these small-volume, stemmed glasses.
The Right Glass for the Right Wine
Just a couple of years ago, while visiting wineries in Southern Oregon, I came across a winery offering “champagne,” and I knew I had to check it out. Now, keep in mind that many of the greatest wineries in the world today started out as small backyard ventures. So, with an open mind, I approached this small winery tasting room behind the house. Inside, I joined six other people awaiting a taste or two. When the wine attendant entered the room, she announced that we would have to pay $25 for three tastings of her “champagne.” I watched as she began arranging small, opaque plastic cups along the bar to pour the “champagne” for our tasting.
I can still hear her almost scream, “Where are you going?” as four of us walked out to our cars.
Wine glasses come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some with stems and others without. The main reason for using a stemmed glass is to avoid changing the temperature of the wine by holding the glass, which ideally should be served at the proper temperature. Another reason for a stem is to prevent “smudges” on the bowl, which could make the wine inside look less “pretty.” Rest assured, “smudges” do not affect the taste.
The actual bowl of the glass, which contains the wine, can come in many shapes and sizes, each affecting aeration and the way the wine’s aroma is trapped.
Glasses for big reds like Syrah, Cabernet, and Zinfandel are wide at the bottom and full in the middle, allowing for good aeration when swirling and preparing for the sniff. White wines are typically served in narrower glasses to retain their lighter aromas and reduce exposure to outside temperatures. Lastly, sparkling wines like Champagne need to be served in Champagne flutes—tall and slender glasses. This design not only keeps the Champagne chilled but also lets you watch the tiny bubbles rise to the top.
A basic rule of thumb is that your wine glass should be large enough to contain a full pour but not filled past the halfway mark. This allows you to swirl the wine, get a good sniff, and enjoy a sip without spilling over the top of the glass.
Many wine tasting challenges have been conducted by wine “experts” worldwide, trying to determine how glass size and shape affect a wine’s structure and bouquet. Most experts agree that sipping a well-structured wine from a glass with a wide body and opening allows it to breathe further. Proper swirling makes a noticeable difference in how the wine opens up on both the nose and the palate.
My reflection on wine glasses is this: the better the wine, the more important the wine glass. I firmly believe that both the body and structure of high-quality wines deserve the proper glass.
That being said, if you’re just starting out in the world of wine and haven’t yet reached the “Wine Snob” level, but you’re visiting local wineries and bringing home some good “drink-now” wines, here’s a tip from the “non-wine snob consultant.” If I were to buy just one kind of glass to use with all wines at home, it would be the Vinum XL Pinot Noir Glass from Riedel. This glass was developed specifically for Oregon Pinot, but it’s rumored that one of the best French Champagne winemakers samples his wines from this glass. If he can do it, why can’t you?
I’ll leave you with this final thought—or should I say, “call to action”? As a pretty knowledgeable wine guy with a better-than-average wine palate, I despise when airlines brag about the great wines they serve, yet they do so in plastic cups. I’ll eat with a plastic knife and fork, but a guy must have his standards. Really, I say let’s protest! When was the last time a plane was hijacked by someone holding a wine glass?
If you can’t have a little humor in life, especially when talking about wine, then what do you have?
