Choosing the correct wine glasses entails six points of consideration: size, shape, design, weight, material and aesthetics. The size of the glass depends on what variety of wine you intend to put in it. Typically, red wine glasses are larger in size than white wine glasses, and those meant for high quality wines are bigger than those employed for more pedestrian ones.
In my case, I use a 17 oz.(480 ml.) capacity glass for regular red wines, and a 12 2/3 oz. (360 ml.) one for whites. As for Bordeaux, and other tannic, full-bodied, top notch reds, I use a 23 oz. (650 ml.) glass that was developed with Bordeaux specifically in mind. I of course don’t fill my Bordeaux, or any other wine glass, to the brim. After all, taking into consideration that a regular wine bottle only contains 750 ml. of wine, there wouldn’t be very much left for everyone else to have if I did, and for anotherreason, each the large size of the glass and the simple fact that it’s widest at its halfway point enable the wine to “breathe” by affording a broad surface area of wine to be in contact with the air to encourage oxidation. Oxidation helps to soften the tannins of a sturdy red that might normally be overly harsh, and lets you more fully appreciate the complexity and variety of flavors existing in a noble red.
White wine, on the other hand, has far fewer tannins, and typically doesn’t gain anything from oxidation. A smaller glass is also beneficial for whites because they are served at cooler temperatures. Of course, it normally requires longer to consume a greater amount of wine, and you wish to drink up a glass of white wine before it has a has a opportunity to become too warm. One white wine that is an exception to these rules is the best white Burgundy, like Chablis or Montrachet. These excellent quality whites do benefit from oxidation, and are best poured at the temperature of common red wines, from 55 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the quality level, I commonly serve white Burgundy, and other high quality Chardonnays, in 14 4/5 oz. (420 ml.) glasses or my 17 oz. red wine glasses.
The largest capacity glasses are usually reserved for top-notch Burgundy. I use 26 1/2 oz. (750 ml.) glasses, but there are Burgundy glasses as big as 31 3/4 oz. (900 ml). But the topic of Burgundy glasses actually brings us more into the realm of shape than size. Burgundy is a rather fragile and hugely aromatic red. similar to Bordeaux, Burgundy is usually drunk from glasses designed for it specifically The glasses are balloon shaped: very wide in the middle, but tapering up to a somewhat narrow mouth. The wide middle provides enough surface area for the bouquet to waft up from, while the narrow mouth retains the great Burgundy bouquet in the glass, preventing it from dissipating so that you are able to enjoy it fully.
A different type of uniquely shaped wine glass is the champagne flute. These champagne glasses have narrow, tall bowls to decrease the chance of their bubbles dissipating too quickly. Tulip shaped Champagne flutes are preferable to straight-sided or trumpet-shaped ones due to the fact that, as is the case with the great majority of wine glasses, the narrower mouth serves to concentrate the bouquet within the glass. Talking about shape in general, I prefer diamond-shaped glasses. They look nice , and a benefit of the diamond shape is that it makes it easy to see just where the widest point of the glass is, which is also the point to which it ought to be filled.
As far as design goes, traditional, long-stemmed glasses are definitely preferable to stemless glasses. The stem serves a number of important functions. First, by suspending the bowl up off the table, it lets you see the color of the wine. Secondly, it makes it much easier to swirl the wine in the glass to aerate it and get an idea of how much of body the wine has as it drips again down the sides of the glass. Thirdly, it is a handy handle that stops your your body heat heating up the wine, and your fingers smudging up the glass.
Weight and balance are also important considerations because you want a glass which feels good in your hand. This is highly subjective, but I myself don’t like heavy wine glasses, so I prefer those made from thin glass. A thin rim is also more pleasant to drink from. There is a disadvantage to thin glass however, which can result in inconvenience and added cost: it chips and breaks easily. A way around this problem is to buy glasses reinforced with titanium rather than lead. Titanium wine glasses are not just more tough than their leaded counterparts, they are also lighter and maintain their clarity much better.
As for material, you definitely want to go with high-quality Austrian or German crystal. Which’s seriously not as costly as it sounds. You can get beautiful, tasteful, machine-made crystal from well known producers at sensible prices, particularly if you do some comparison shopping on the Internet. Of course, their top of the line hand blown glasses tend to be really pricey, but you don’t have to break the bank when you can get really good glasses for significantly less, including the titanium versions.
That brings us finally to aesthetics, the most subjective subject of all. It’s an essential one though due to the fact, in the end, the ultimate purpose of nice wine glasses is to act as an stylish foil for whichever wine you are having so aesthetics is just as big a consideration as functionality. Essentially, I’d say determine how much you want to invest in wine glasses and get the ones that you feel are the best amongst those that fall inside your budget.
You can, if you’re so inclined, buy a unique size and shape of glass for each and every famous variety of wine, but that’s overkill, IMO. I can’t see any reason to buy a particular glass for Syrah, for example. If you’re pouring a top quality Syrah, such as a Hermitage or Penfolds Grange, it’s best to serve it in Bordeaux glasses. If it’s a more everyday version of this fashionable varietal, you can just use everyday red wine glasses. The same applies for other powerful, full-bodied reds. In the case of a high quality Pinot Noir, you had best use Burgundy glasses due to the fact Burgundy itself is made from Pinot Noir grapes. If you’re having a more everyday Pinot Noir, ordinary red wine glasses are a better option because the high-capacity Burgundy glasses will just make the wine’s ordinariness more apparent.
In my opinion, a full set of wine glasses will include normal red wine glasses (that can also be utilized as water goblets), Bordeaux glasses, Burgundy glasses, white wine glasses, (for Chablis and other top-notch white Burgundies, you can use red wine or Bordeaux glasses), and champagne glasses. You may want to add some specialty glasses to the list if you happen to be a Brandy drinker or in the habit of drinking dessert wines, but if not, you should be prepared for any contingency with these five types of wine glasses.
If you are interested in learning more concerning wine tasting, or wine tours in the Santa Barbara wine country, then why not visit Santa Barbara Wine Tasting, at http://santabarbarawinetasting.net