Wine lovers oooo and ahhh over winery architecture and label design, but I´m willing to bet you haven´t stopped to stare at the smooth curves and subtle drama of the wine glass.  Am I right?

Depending on whose cupboard door you open, you´ll find wineglasses that range from crystal masterpieces and blown glass goblets, to Dixie cups and big gulps.  Safe to say that not everyone fusses over the vessel when it comes time to uncork a bottle, but the humble wine glass isn´t just a frivolous way to dress up the moment, it´s also an important tasting tool.

Somewhere along the lines of architecture and anatomy, you´ll find the study of wine glass design.  And if you take a minute or two to learn the basics, you can add a spark to your next tasting or dinner party.

Learning the Parts of a Wine Glass

Rim / Lip

The size of the glass´s rim helps to concentrate the wine´s aromas: the smaller the opening, the more concentrated the aromas and the easier they are to identify.  Tasting glasses often have a very narrow rim for this very reason.  White wine is generally served in narrow-rimmed glasses to emphasize the delicate aromas, whereas red wines have a wider rim.

Bowl

This is where the wine is held in the glass.  The bowl size of any particular wine glass is what determines how much mingling takes place between the wine and the air: the larger the bowl, the larger the surface area.

You probably already know that wine has a love-hate relationship with air.  During the years it spends aging in oak barrels or stainless steel/ cement tanks, air is like kryptonite to the developing wine.  However, when it comes time to take the first sip, exposing a large surface area of red wine allows it to mix with oxygen and really come to life. It develops in color and releases all of its aromas.  (Makes you think twice about decanting doesn´t it?)

Contrary to what you may think, the size of the wine glass – and how much you fill it – should have little to do with how thirsty you are, and much more to do with temperature regulation and release of aromas.  For sparkling wines, champagnes and white wines, pour only small quantities at a time.  This will help insure that the wine maintains a slight chill and doesn´t come up to room temperature before you get around to taking the final sip.

Stem

The stem is purely functional.  It connects the base to the bowl, and gives you a place to hold on tight!  Stemless wine glasses are stylish, but they put the bowl of wine right into the heat-producing palm of your hand.  So, as you´re chatting at your dinner party, you´re raising the temperature of your wine up to a slow boil.  Not good.

Base/ Foot

This should be an easy one.  Like your feet, the base of your wine glass is all about stability.  It keeps the glass upright…even if the drinker can no longer say the same.

Other notes:

Color intensity is one of the ways wine communicates to you, so if you´re at all interested in admiring the hues, it´s important that you pick clear glass.  Though stained, etched or painted stemware may be fun to look at, you run the risk of the glass stealing the spotlight away from the wine itself.  For that reason, you´ll find that most of the glasses on the market are colorless, and free of bells and whistles.

Dinner parties or seated meals generally call for larger glasses, so you can avoid constant refills.  Whereas tasting events and cocktail hours require smaller glasses, a built-in safety net for those that would over-imbibe.

Sparkling wines and Champagne require tall, narrow stemware that exposes a limited surface area.  This allows the bubbles to stay intact for as long as possible and keeps both the carbonation and the aromas from falling flat.

When purchasing your next set of wine glasses, we recommend first thinking about the wine and then about your lifestyle.  What kind of wine do you usually drink?  How many glasses do you need at one time? How much do you want to spend? And are you really going to be up for hand-washing each glass at the end of the night, or would you rather simply load up the dishwasher?  Be honest, think about it, and you´ll be sure to buy the glass that´s right for both your wine and you.

Photo courtesy of: blog.vintagecellars.com

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