Italian Wine Glasses

Wine must never be consumed out off something as crass as a mason jar. Looking to get into wine? You’ll need proper wine glasses. What are the best wine glasses, you ask? Read on, dear reader.

There are four types of wine glasses. Red wine glasses, white wine glasses, sparkling wine glasses and dessert wine glasses. Red wine glasses have wider, flatter bowls, the better to allow air circulation and accommodate the appreciation of the bouquet. White wine glasses have wider mouths to allow the wine to reach the back of the tongue first (so the sweetness doesn’t overpower the wine itself). Champagne flutes have less surface area (read thinner) so the carbonation stays in the wine longer. Dessert wine glasses are smaller, as dessert wines are usually stronger with smaller mouths to direct the sweeter wine to the back of the tongue.

Brand-wise, most wine glasses are pretty simple. Some people swear by French, others prefer Italian wine glasses, still others don’t care who makes the glass, as long as it is clear, smooth and stylish. Whichever glass you choose, take a deep breath of the bouquet, stick that pinkie in the air and enjoy the wine.

Choosing proper wine glasses may seem like a daunting task. There are far too many choices: stemmed, stemless, flutes, desert, red, glass, crystal, the list goes on and on. Luckily, with a little advice, knowing how to choose wine glasses is quite simple.

First of all, most people have no idea which type of wine glass goes with what type of wine. If you’re not worried that guests will turn up their noses drinking white wine out of a red wine glass, grab whichever wine glasses match your dining set. Wine is meant to be enjoyed, not worried over.

If you want to do everything right, and your guests know their etiquette, you will need different glasses depending on the wine. Champagne needs flutes, red and white wines need red and white glasses which have a wider opening and can be stemmed for white or stemless for red, respectively and dessert wine needs smaller volume or port glasses. French glass, Italian wine glasses, crystal, doesn’t really matter as long as the glasses match the wine and accentuate the silverware. An easy way to avoid problems are to serve red or white wine in the typical opening wine glasses. That way the only decision you have to make is if you like stemmed or stemless for a more contemporary feel. Simplicity is golden, especially after a few glasses of wine.