There are a wide variety of wine glasses available today. They generally fall in to the categories of red, white, sparkling, and dessert wine glasses. For the purpose of this article I am only going to discuss stemware which is the most common type of wine glass and it has a bowl, stem, and base.
There is a reason that wine glasses come with a stem and it is more than just to make it top heavy and unstable – although those can be side effects too. The stem is there for us to use to hold the glass. If you hold the wine glass by the stem you keep your warm hands away from the wine. Wines are served at particular temperatures and holding a glass by the bowl will warm up the wine.
White wine glasses come in two types.
The first is a glass with a more narrow bowl. It is intended for chilled white wines. The compact size of the bowl helps maintain the temperature of a wine. Typically this is used to serve Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio and other wines that benefit from staying chilled.
The second version of a white wine glass has a large bowl which isn’t great at maintaining the wine temperature, but is excellent at enhancing the aroma of the wines. Typically this is used for Chardonnay, and aromatic wines.
Red wine glasses tend to be large glasses, but the intention is not to serve more wine in them. The serving size should still be 5-6 ounces. The Larger format has more to do with aroma and flavor enhancement. The space in the bowl above the wine is where aromas collect. Smelling is a key part of tasting wine. The other aspect of red wines in larger glasses is the softening of tannins. Wines are exposed to oxygen in the glass and over time the oxygen helps to soften harsh, and astringent tannins. Red wines served in larger glasses can also be perceived as less bitter. I am not sure if this is also due to interaction with oxygen, or not.
There are 2 main versions of a red wine glass.
The first category of red wine glasses is the Burgundy style glass. Burgundy is a region in France. The primary red grape grown, and wine made is Pinot Noir. Burgundy glasses are generally intended for Pinot Noir, or other wines that can have a floral character like Gamay. The round bowl helps collect the delicate aromas of lighter bodied red wines.
The second category of red wine glass is the Bordeaux glass. Bordeaux is also a region in France. Here they grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Wine glasses in this shape are made for these varieties as well as other bold, full bodied reds. These glasses have a taller bowl. The wine aromas are still collected in the space above the wine in the bowl. The glass also helps reduce the sensation of alcohol burn to the nose by keeping the wine further from the nose when smelling the wine.
Sparkling wine has 3 types of glasses, but… I only subscribe to two of them.
The most common is the flute. The flute is the tall slender glass. The shape is intended to preserve the bubbles, and the help maintain the cool temperature that sparkling wine is served at. This is a great shape of glass and one I recommend.
A tulip shaped glass is the next version that I would recommend. This is a modified version of a flute. The bowl gets a little wider toward the top of the glass. This allows aromas to collect in the bowl and gives you a better ability to smell the sparkling wine. It still has the tall slender shape of a traditional flute so it helps keep the wine cool and preserves the bubbles.
The third version of a sparkling wine glass is the Coupe. It is a very shallow bowl with a wide opening. The large surface of the wine allows the quickest loss of bubbles – so the sparkling wine will go flat faster, and it does not help to keep the wine cool also due to the large surface area of the wine. This is the type of sparkling wine glass that I would caution you against.
Dessert glasses. Here we have many different shapes of glass. The one thing that they have in common is that they are small. Dessert wine portions tend to be very small. Not more than a couple of ounces. This is because they are very sweet, and often have higher alcohol content than other wines. In a pinch, a sparkling wine flute, or tulip is an excellent substitute for a dessert wine glass. Just be sure to pour a smaller volume.
The final type of glass is the tasting glass. It is generally slightly larger than the first white wine glass, but not much. It is that same shape. It is a catch all. Wines of all varieties will be served in this type of glass. It is not the best glass for any wine, but it still gives you the ability to experience the wines.
Glass versus leaded crystal. There is a distinct advantage in serving wine in leaded crystal – particularly the correct shape glass for the wine. I have been told that regular glass is very smooth. When a glass is swirled the wine and aromas are brought up in the the space above the wine, but then tend to sink back down in to the wine. In leaded crystal, apparently, the surface is very porous (microscopic pores) so when the wine is swirled the aromas tend to stick to the pores up the sides of the glass and remain in the space above the wine. This gives a stronger and longer lasting impression of the wine. If you have the chance to pour the same wine in to 2 glasses of the same shape and size, one leaded crystal and one standard glass you will see a noticeable difference in the crystal.
Although there are all of these different glasses you can use whatever glass you want. There are differences in how wines taste from one glass to another, but they might not be as significant and someone trying to sell you wine glasses might make you believe, The one caveat to that is that crystal does truly enhance a wine, but again… it might not be enough of an enhancement to be worth the added cost to you.
Wine glasses get broken so you will always have a chance to try new ones.