WINE AND PROPER GLASSWARE
A good host wouldn't be caught dead pouring Bordeaux over ice cubes. But all too often, he thinks nothing of serving wine in inappropriate stemware.
Big mistake.
The correct glass can have an enormous effect on a wine's aroma and taste. Pour a beautiful Pinot Noir into a short, trumpet-flared, thick-rimmed glass and it's no longer Pinot Noir. It's just red wine.
A couple of decades ago, the Austrian glass firm, Riedel (rhymes with “needle”) revolutionized the idea of using correct stemware and boldly claimed that “the right glass” exists for each different wine.
Other companies such as Bottega del Vino and Ravenscroft followed suit and now you can find a glass designed not only for Chardonnay, but also one for aged Chardonnay, and still another for unoaked Chardonnay.
This kind of proliferation may seem silly—until you taste a wine out of the glass designed for it.
Riedel’s Pinot Noir/Red Burgundy glass not only opens up the bouquet of this particularly aromatic grape, but it also delivers a sip of Pinot Noir to what Riedel calls “the Pinot Noir point” on the tongue—that place where the tongue can best taste the rich fruit, berry flavors and subtleness of Pinot Noir.
Another kind of glass with, for example, a wider opening would deliver a sip of Pinot Noir to a place on the tongue where the acidity of the grape would be emphasized—and take away from the pleasure of tasting that wine.
That said, some general design rules seem to operate with all glassware companies.
Bordeaux/Cabernet Sauvignon glasses are large-bowled and steep-sided. Take a Bordeaux glass and taper the rim inward even more and you have a Syrah/Rhône glass.
Most white wine glasses have significantly smaller bowls than red wine glasses. This is to help preserve the cool on a white wine (if the bowl were larger, there’d be more surface space to dissipate cold). More complex white wines, however, enjoy larger bowls—almost as large as some red wines.
Whatever glassware you choose—from very specific to all-purpose—just be sure that the bowl is clear and the rim is fine and thin. That will help you enjoy the wine even more.
Thick, etched crystal glasses may be more impressive than clear glasses, but they’re less useful for enjoying wine. Get simple, clear glasses without etching or color—so you can see the wine unadorned
Buy glasses with large bowls so that you can swirl and aerate the wine. Without an aroma, wine can appear flat and dull.
The rims on the glasses should fold inward, like the shape of a tulip. This focuses the wine’s aroma. A trumpet-shaped glass cannot do that.
Always buy glasses with a thin rim. Wine flows more easily over a thin, rather than a rolled, rim.
The reason for the stem on a glass is to give you a place to hold the glass without cupping the bowl and warming the wine. So, just be sure that the stems are adequate for that.
The best glass for sparkling wine is a flute, because it both keeps the bubbles from dissipating and allows you to watch them ascend through the liquid.