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Which glass do you use for which wine?
The glass has a major influence on how a wine presents itself in terms of aroma and flavour.
These three principles are helpful in every wine and glass situation:
- The ideal and therefore universal wine glass has a stem (and is held exclusively by this) and a bulbous goblet that tapers towards the top (to keep the fine aromas in the glass as much as possible) and whose wall is as thin as possible.
- A larger wine glass is always better than one that is too small, as a larger surface area allows more air contact so that the wine can develop faster and the flavours can develop more quickly.
- For Sparkling winenarrow glasses are recommended so that the surface area is as small as possible to prevent the carbon dioxide from escaping too quickly.
The following principles apply when choosing between several types of glass:
- For light, fruity white wines, a rather slender glass is recommended, which preserves the fine aromas for as long as possible thanks to the small surface area of the liquid and also visually complements the style of the wine.
- For full-bodied, intense white wines - especially those that have been matured in wooden barrels - and for Rosé wines the glass can be larger and more bulbous, as the air contact harmonises the aromas and texture.
- For fruity, delicate red wines that have been matured in stainless steel tanks or large wooden barrels, the glass should also be larger and more bulbous, but does not need to allow maximum air contact.
- Strong, concentrated, tannin-rich red wines require a large, bulbous glass that brings together the complex flavours and "opens up" the tannins, making the mouthfeel fuller and smoother.
- For Sweet wines a small, again rather narrow glass is suitable, which brings out the fine and differentiated flavours appropriately and does not release them too quickly.
It is advisable to have at least one universally usable wine glass in sufficient quantity in the house. The selection can be based on the type of wine you prefer.
There are specially developed universal glasses for professional tastings, e.g. the "Sensus" DIN test glass. However, these are relatively small and only suitable to a very limited extent for enjoying wine (in contrast to professional tastings).
More and more glass manufacturers are developing specific glasses for individual types of wine or grape varieties, sometimes in several series. The names of the glasses often give an indication of the type of wine for which they were developed (e.g. "Riesling", "Burgundy", " Bordeaux"). These glasses all fulfil their purpose, but the decision will ultimately be based on aesthetic and financial considerations.
This selection of glass manufacturers (in alphabetical order) provides an overview of the variety of models:
- Luigi Bormioli
- Eisch
- Gabriel glass (used by the wein.plus tasting team)
- HLB
- Nachtmann
- Peugeot-Saveurs
- Rastal
- Riedel
- Schott-Zwiesel
- Spiegelau
- Stölzle Lausitz
- WMF
- Zalto
This blog post shows just how big the sensory differences are for the same wine depending on the choice of glass: Because we can