Wine Glasses
Taking a relaxed approach to wine glasses, a suitable wine glass has 3 basic requirements:
- A wine glass should be made of clear glass - Clear glass allows you to see the wine's color. Fancy crystal designs or colored glasses can make it difficult or impossible to view the wine.
- It should be larger than your average "pour" - Most pour 4 to 5 ounces of wine into a wine glass. The glass should be large enough to allow you to swirl the wine to bring out the aromas. A glass of about twice the size of the average pour (8 to 10 ounces) should do nicely allowing enough room to swirl without spilling.
- It should have an opening that directs aromas to the nose - It would be very difficult to purchase a glass that did not let you smell its contents. That being said, some are said to do it better by design than others. Anything that concentrates aromas at the top of the glass will do - this means the glass typically tapers in somewhat towards the top.
Anyone who gets these 3 criteria covered in their selection of a wine glass will have a very suitable and functional glass. One can, of course, go crazy from there. There are many purpose built wine glasses for specific types of wine that are supposed to direct the wine and its flavors to the "right" part of the tongue, and best concentrate aromas at the nose. Some people swear by these glasses. Others think them a marketing gimmick. It probably boils down to a matter of personal taste. Make sure to cover the basics, after that everything else is pretty much gravy (be sure to see: "The Folks from the Old Country Did Not Use Fancy Wine Glasses").
