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Let’s talk wine!
SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS
Whatever wine you prefer, it would be red, white, sparkling rose or champagne, the smaller glass you chose, the harder it’s for aroma to escape and let wine to breath in oxygen, aerate and open up. Wine experts and other related professionals say that although you master uncorking a wine bottle or perfectly pouring a glass if you use the wrong glassware, you may miss a wine’s potential. Choosing the right glass for a good wine is a great start. Some people prefer stemless glass, some prefer heavier or lighter texture glass or crystal. Sometimes it is fine to use some elegant plastic wine glasses. Plastic wine glass can be convenient in the bathtub or next to the pool. Some prefer tumblers. Mmm.. not for me, but… how they say in Lithuania, there are no friends for your taste. Each has his own.
FOR CHAMPAGNE
Champagne does not need to breath, that’s why it is served in tall tulip shaped glasses. That way aroma and bubbles can develop to the full. The best if it has a stem, that way you hold by the stem, not touching the bowl and let the champagne to keep its cold temperature as long as possible.
Old fashion, coupe champagne glasses looks very elegant and is very trendy now, even though does not hold bubbles for as long as tulip shaped flutes.
Champagne should be served at 45-50 F. If you don’t have a special wine fridge, you can chill your champagne in a freezer for up to 2 hours.
FOR ROSÈ
Choose a shorter glass on a long stem with a slightly opened bowl.
Rosé should be served at 48-53 F. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for up to 1 1/2 hours.
FOR WHITE WINE
Choose a taller stem glass with narrowing bowl on the top. This way your wine will stay chilled longer.
Lighter, dry white wines, like Sauvignon Blanc, Pino Grigio, Reisling etc. should be served at 45-49 F. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for 1 1/2 hours.
Full bodied white wines like Chardonay, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, etc. should be served at 50-55 F. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for 1 hour.
FOR RED WINE
Choose a larger, more opened glasses. Red wine needs to get a good touch from oxygen to open up his best aromas and flavors, ethanol to evaporate and make the wine taste smoother. Let’s talk more detailed about red wine glasses.
For Bordeaux, Merlot and Cabernet wines:
Choose the tallest of red wine glasses with the bowl designed to open up their fruity flavors.
Full bodied reds should be served at 60-65 F to reflect a lush mouthfeel. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for 25 minutes.
For Syrah, Sangiovese and Malbec
Choose a shorter of red wine glasses with a medium bowl, designed for harsh flavors and spice to soften because the wine is designed to hit your palette more gradually from the smaller opening.
Same as Sauvignon and Cabernet, Malbec, Syrah etc. wines should served at 60-65 F. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for 25 minutes.
For Burgundy and Pinot noir
Choose glass with the biggest and widest bowl on a short stem. This design helps wine to have a larger surface for oxygen and develop bolder aromas.
Burgundy and Pinot noir etc. wines should be served 55-60 F. If you don’t have a special wine refrigerator, you can chill in a freezer for 45 -60 minutes.
It is a good idea let the red wine to breath in a decanter for at least 30 min and up to 4 hours before serving.
SOME WINE ETIQUETTE
When pouring a glass of white wine – for reds pour less then half, closer to 1/3 of the glass, so it would have a space to breath. White wine glass the bowl is smaller than a red wine glass as a result you may pour slightly more white wine into the white wine glass versus a red wine glass.
As we talked earlier, wines should always have a slight chill, or the alcohol will taste hot (there is nothing worse than taste of hot alcohol) and the flavors dull. Served too cold, however, and the aromas and flavors are muted.
When you hold any kind of stemmed whine glass ALWAYS hold only by the stem, NEVER by the bowl. There are two reasons why. 1st you will warm the wine fast with your fingers holding by the bowl, 2nd, it looks just gross when you hold by the bowl and all the glass is covered in your fingerprints. Stay classy!
When you pour the wine, hold the bottle towards the base, not towards the neck.
Before you sip your wine, remember 5 S’s rule in wine tasting. See, Swirl, Smell, Sip and Savor. Look at the color, swirl, smell, then sip it and think about it. Think about notes you taste.
Note for woman. If you are about to sip wine, put on a long wearing lipstick or at least tap your lips on a paper napkin to reduce lipstick marks on a wine glass. If happened that you started to drink and you got marks, keep drinking from the same side of the glass to keep marks to minimum.
If you have a larger company, I think those wine glass charms are adorable idea. You can mark and everyone knows which is his/hers glass.
Well, we covered a lot. I know I skipped sweet wines, like port, etc. It is just not my cup of tea, I do not have much of experience with it, so I do not feel like I am the one to talk about it.
If you made it to the end of article, I guess you enjoyed, so please let me know, in the comments below, what is your favorite type of wine. Happy Wine day! Cheers!
