It is a popular belief that the glass in which you serve a wine is almost as important to how much you enjoy drinking the wine itself. The shape of the glass is designed so you can appreciate the flavor. There are convincing arguments that wine does taste better if drunk from the right glass. With so many different designs out there it’s hard to know which ones will be the best. Most people agree that a specially shaped glass is required for certain types of wine. The most obvious example of this is tall, thin flute-shaped glasses for champagne which are designed to retain the effervescence in sparkling wines.
It’s actually less about the flavor than aroma when we taste the wine. The majority of what we ‘taste’ when we drink wine is actually a combination of its smell, and the effect of the evaporated aromas in the mouth.
You may notice that some wine drinkers will use different glasses for reds and whites. A rounder, wider bowl for reds will allow more space for the wine to breathe. A slightly outward curved rim on some red wine glasses will emphasize fruitiness on the tongue while reducing the impression of acidity. Wines that are elegant, spicy and silky would benefit from this kind of glass.
White wines with a curved rim which are not very wide will emphasize the fruit, and channel the wine on to the tip of the tongue, that area that responds to sweetness. Fuller bodied whites (wood aged like Chardonnay) need a larger volume glass so the wine has a chance to have sufficient contact with the air to reveal its complex aromas.
Drinking from a lead crystal glass is generally considered to be more enjoyable. Crystal has to contain at least 24% lead which produces a slightly rougher surface than glass, which helps to release the aroma when swirling the wine. The rough surface area provides friction as the wine moves inside the glass. No one has pursued this further than Riedel, the Austrian wine glass manufacturer that came up with the idea.
I think the choice of wine glass does make a difference. So experiment and see for yourself.
Until next time, cheers!
