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Six Tips on Wine Glasses From a Professional
To drink wine, you must have the proper
glasses. That is
pretty much the end of it as far as I am concerned.
Wine just does not taste the same if it is not in the
proper glass.
There are many different types of wine
glasses, of varying styles and quality. There are a number of
manufacturers of fine, and somewhat expensive, crystal glasses,
designed specifically for use with certain wines.
Riedel is the most well known in this category.
It's not necessary to spend a lot of money, however, as long as
you purchase glasses, also often referred to as 'stemware', that
obey a few simple rules.
Rule #1 Glasses Must Be Plain and Clear
When choosing wine glasses, firstly pay attention to the
material from which it is made. At the very least, the glass
must be plain and clear. Part of the enjoyment of wine is
appreciation of the colour. The colour gives a lot of
information about the wine, giving clues to the grapes used, the
age of the wine, and so on. It is no accident that the
Australian show judging system gives 3 points out of a possible
20 points solely to colour.
Thus, wine glasses made from coloured or
frosted glass, or worse still solid materials such as pewter or
silver, are useless.
There are a few wine glasses around made
from cut crystal.
These glasses are often beautiful to look at, but they are just
no good for drinking wine properly because you cannot see the
wine clearly. As a
subsidiary point, they are often too small or the wrong shape,
but we will get to that shortly.
Rule #2 Glasses Must Be Big Enough
Secondly, when choosing wine glasses, make sure that you select
glasses which are of a sufficient size. The bowl should be large
enough to allow a fair measure to be poured, whilst leaving
enough room for the wine to be gently swirled without spilling
the wine.
The standard measure of wine in a
restaurant is 150ml – so there are about five glasses in one
750ml bottle. Over the dinner table, you will pour between four and five
glasses per bottle, so the glasses you use have to be big enough
(a) for the wine and (b) to swirl it around.
This swirling action is to release aromas
from the wine, and is therefore vitally important. Some wine
glasses are so tiny that they must be filled to the brim in
order to achieve a decent size pour, and these are therefore
plainly inadequate.
Rule #3 Glasses Must Have a Stem
The glass must have a stem, not just for aesthetic reasons, but
mainly so that the wine glass may be held without covering the
bowl in greasy fingerprints.
Winemakers will often tell you that
holding by the stem also ensures that warmth from the hand does
not increase the temperature of a wine that has been served
chilled. In
practice, however, this is not such a problem. If you watch
winemakers drinking wine, you will notice that their hand very
rarely touches the bowl.
They only hold the glass only by the stem or base.
They also unconsciously swirl the glass almost
incessantly. So
deeply engrained is this habit that they even do this to glasses
of water sometimes!
There are occasions when a white wine is
served too cold.
Winemakers will then cup the bowl of the glass with both hands
for several minutes to warm the wine up.
This is because the all important aromas do not rise from
cold wines.
Rule #4 The Top of the Glass Must be
Narrower Than the Bowl
The shape of the bowl is of considerable
importance. Good wine glasses taper in somewhat at the top, so
that the aperture is narrower than the bowl lower down. Whilst
this appearance is aesthetically pleasing, it is also of
functional importance. A wine taster will use a swirling action
to release precious aromas from the wine, and this tapered shape
serves to concentrate the aromas towards the nose. This design
is particularly evident in glasses designed for Pinot Noir, in
which appreciation of the full range of aromas is so important
in enjoying the wine.
The standard wine tasting glasses used in
wineries and show judging, the XL5 glass, is much more tapered
at the top of the glass than at the bottom.
Rule #5 Have at Least Three Types of
Glasses
Most wine drinkers would agree that
different styles of wines demand different types of wine
glasses. At the most basic level, there are three types of
glasses that you should have at home:
·
A flute for Champagne and sparkling wines,
·
A red wine glass with a larger bowl for red wines, and
·
A white wine glass with a smaller bowl for white wines.
You can take this concept further by
buying glasses that are made specifically for individual
varieties. The maxim here is that “the content dictates the shape.”
Riedel, for example, make a glass for every variety that
Killerby Vineyards produces.
Even though we have these varietal glasses on hand, we
don’t use them every night at home when drinking wine.
They mostly come out at dinner parties or at serious wine
tastings.
There is no real need to have hand blown
glassware – machine made glass is more than adequate.
Hand blown glass (such as the Riedel Sommelier range) is
wonderful for special occasions, but is almost impossible to
keep from breaking in normal household usage.
If you are buying Riedel, we recommend the
Vinum series of machine made glassware.
"“The finest glasses for both
technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by
Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is
profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference
they make.”
Robert
M.Parker, Jr.
The Wine Advocate
  
  
Rule #6 Eight Steps in Looking After
Your Glasses
Much is written about how to treat
glasses, but there are really only a few simple rules.
1.
New glasses should be washed before use. This is because the smell of cardboard is carried in new
glasses and this will interfere with the flavours of the wine.
2.
Glasses should be washed between use.
3.
Some advocate using hot water alone, and some advise the
use of detergent. I
prefer the use of detergent.
Those
that use detergent should, however, ensure that they give the
glasses a thorough rinsing afterwards, as even just a
trace of lemon or similarly scented washing-up liquid can ruin
the nose of a wine.
4.
There is no doubt that domestic dishwashers clean glasses
well. In my view, they clean them better than hand washing.
Be
careful, however, how you stand the glasses in the dishwasher.
If delicate stem ware (ie: Reidel Sommelier glasses) are
put upside down in the racks and can move around, you will break
most of them over time.
5.
Whichever you prefer, always hold the glasses up to the
light to check they are clean.
> A
superficially clean looking glass may in fact be covered in a
fine coat of scum which is difficult to remove with just gentle
washing.
> This can
adversely affect the wine, particularly sparkling wines or
Champagne, which will not demonstrate their fizz if placed into
a glass like this.
6.
If you wash them by hand, allow the glasses to drip dry.
7.
Once dry, a quick polish will quickly rid them of any
residual water marks, which look a little unsightly but are
easily removed.
Again,
with delicate stemware such as Reidel Sommeliers, try not to
force the whole tea towel into the bowl of the glass as this
will smash a high proportion of the glasses.
8.
Store them standing upright in a clean, odour-free
cupboard ready for use.
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