The perfect wine glasses will change your notion of the drink and elevate your whole wine-tasting expertise, says sommelier and host of Bon Appétit’s World of Wine André Hueston Mack. So earlier than pouring your Cabernet Sauvignon into an everyday water glass, ceramic mug, or another clear ingesting vessel inside arm’s attain (we’ve all achieved it), know that doing so would imply you’re lacking out on all of the deliciously advanced flavors your wine has to supply.
How your wine tastes has every thing to do with the way it’s delivered to your palate, and that’s primarily based on the form and dimension of the glass. Whereas there are specific options each wine glass ought to have—like a rim, bowl, stem, and base—there are further particulars particular to various kinds of wine, whether or not you’re ingesting pink, white, or glowing.
As an example, bigger rounded bowls are typically higher for reds, whereas small slim bowls are higher for whites. In this episode of World of Wine, Mack breaks down each form of wine glass and discusses the main points that lend to better-tasting Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and extra. Beneath, we dive into all these particulars and embrace a few of the greatest wine glasses cash should purchase.
Burgundy Glass/Pinot Noir Glass
Essentially the most putting characteristic of such a glass is its balloon form. Its bowl is the widest and shortest of all of the glasses on this listing, which has one fundamental goal: to seize the aromatics of light-bodied pink wines which have excessive acidity and are reasonably tannic. As you swirl, Mack says, the vapors get trapped due to its “cone” form, and the flavors get directed to the middle of your palate. “It feels prefer it’s at a triangle, so it pours into one level of my mouth after which form of spreads again to the both aspect of my mouth, and the edges of my tongue begin to tingle,” he says. Moreover, the lip of this glass is skinny—the thinner the rim, the higher, as a result of it permits the wine to pour extra easily over your palate. Mack loves such a glass and drinks tons of various wines out of it: “It’s a multipurpose glass in my house, as a result of we drink plenty of burgundy and pinot noir.” Bonus: He additionally says it’s probably the greatest glasses for margaritas.
Bordeaux Glass/Cabernet Glass
“Cabernet and Bordeaux are very tannic, in order that they want plenty of headroom and respiration room,” says Mack. Permitting these wines to “breathe” or aerate softens the tannins and improves their taste. As a result of Cabernet typically wants extra air, the lips of this glass don’t curve in—a method to not lure aromas of the wine. As an alternative, the bowl is extra linear and slim with a slight curvature, versus having a ballooned form just like the Burgundy glass. You will discover this glass seems to be considerably outsized, which is intentional—the additional quantity helps decant and aerate the wine. “All the time have a look at these as being considerably of a mini-decanter,” says Mack. “The supply is unquestionably somewhat bit sooner: as quickly as you tip the glass, the wine begins to cowl the pallet from the entrance to the again.” That is an elegant-looking glass that Mack extremely recommends for most individuals, particularly those that drink plenty of reds.
Sauvignon Blanc Glass/Riesling Glass/Chardonnay Glass
Whereas pink wine glasses are typically extra outsized with bigger bowls as a result of the wines must breathe, white wine glasses are usually smaller with narrower bowls. These shorter, slimmer bowls serve two functions: They focus and protect the wine’s acidic qualities and refined aromas, they usually convey the wine in nearer contact to your nostril. That is useful, as a result of the aromatics are much more delicate in wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. That stated, fuller-bodied whites like Chardonnay want extra air. So by way of form, Chardonnay glasses are extra akin to pink wine glasses (although they’re nonetheless smaller in capability). Basically, you possibly can drink your Chardonnay out of a bigger Bordeaux-type glass and nonetheless reap all the advantages.
Port Glass
That is your glass for fortified wines and dessert wines, like Sauterne, that are typically sweeter and heavier with the next alcohol content material (fortified wines are usually between 15%-22% alcohol). As a result of folks aren’t often ingesting these wines in copious quantities, the glasses are small—about three ounces, versus a normal wine pour of 5 ounces. The form is slim and a bit fluted. “The supply shoots extra into the middle of my palate, undoubtedly the place I intensify sugar. I like the way it’s proportioned,” Mack says. When these glasses are pulled out on the feast, you’ll know you’re shifting onto a distinct a part of the meal.
Champagne Flute
Champagne flutes are tremendous slim—about two inches large—to assist facilitate the bubbles rising to the highest. The slim partitions preserve the glass filled with bubbles for longer. If you happen to have been to pour the wine right into a wide-mouthed glass, all of the air publicity would trigger the bubbles to vanish rapidly. Clearly, it is a nice glass for ingesting Champagne. That stated, if you wish to actually consider your Champagne and expertise all of its tasting notes, Mack explains which you can drink it out of an everyday white wine glass, which is able to help you swirl and sniff it to soak up all of the aromatics. Mack loves the Champagne flute, and it’s his favourite method to gown up glowing wine: “It’s enjoyable and celebratory, and it’s an effective way to place 25-inch rims in your Moscato d’Asti.”
Coupe
Contemplate the coupe a predecessor to the Champagne flute. The glass is thick, the bowl is brief and squatty, and it doesn’t have a seamless rim. The large mouth offers the drink extra floor space to launch bubbles, so it is form of the whole reverse of a Champagne flute, Mack explains. Whereas the wideness lets you sniff the drink, you’ll be able to’t actually swirl it. That stated, that is your glass for cocktails and glowing wines that you just’re ingesting only for enjoyable. Certainly one of Macks’ favourite issues to pour into this glass is glowing cider: “It’s nonetheless enjoyable and it’s nonetheless severe.”
Stemless Glass
Mack explains that the stemless glass in all probability got here round within the late Nineteen Nineties or early 2000’s to encourage folks to drink wine extra casually, whereas nonetheless incorporating some components of a conventional wine glass. It’s no secret that stemless wine glasses typically get a foul rap—one draw back is that they’ll have condensation, whereas stemware doesn’t. The most important upside to most of these glasses? As a result of they don’t have a stem, they aren’t as dainty or fragile, however they nonetheless have a large bowl that lets you swirl and scent the aromatics. It’s an exquisite glass for one thing like a boxed rosé. “Boxed wine and stemless glasses form of got here into prominence proper across the similar time,” Mack says. “I really feel like these two issues are a match made in heaven.” You’re taking each of them to the picnic, and also you’re not making an attempt to get too severe concerning the wine. Stemless wine glasses get plenty of hate, however there’s a time and a spot for them. “They’re bringing extra folks to the celebration, the wine celebration that’s, and I am grateful to that” Mack says.
Common Glass
Meet the hand-blown, award-winning Zalto wine glass. The bowl of the glass is designed on the particular angles of 24°, 48° and 72° to make your wine scent and style higher. This glass additionally famously prices about $80 (sure, every). Whereas it’s technically a white wine glass, Mack considers it an all-purpose wine glass, because it lends a fantastic ingesting expertise to all wines throughout the board,” he says. The bowl is moderately-sized, and the glass is so skinny that “touching it, you are feeling like you’ll be able to break it along with your thoughts,” he provides. It’s light-weight and chic, and it elevates the ingesting expertise of any wine that’s poured in it. “The supply is simply so seamless and the lip is totally razor-thin, and I believe all wine can profit from that,” says Mack. “It’s tapered sufficient to lure all of these aromatics I wish to seize from all wines.” If he had to decide on one glass to drink each wine out of, this might be the glass. All that stated, he notes which you can undoubtedly discover completely different variations of such a glass that value much less.
