Unique Glass Home Decor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A wine glass is a type of glass stemware which is used to drink and taste wine. It is generally composed of three parts: the bowl, stem, and foot. Selection of a particular wine glass for a wine style is important, as the glass shape can influence its perception.

Proper Use
It is important to note the most obvious, but often most neglected, part of the wine glass—the stem. The proper way to drink from the wine glass, when drinking white or otherwise chilled wine is to grasp it by the stem and drink. The purpose of this is so the temperature of the wine is not affected when holding the glass. This is achieved because the stem is not in direct contact with the wine. It would be more difficult to control the temperature of the wine if one held the glass by the bowl because it is in direct contact with the wine. Also, holding the glass by the bowl will leave fingerprints, which can distort the visual appearance of the wine when examining the clarity and colour of the wine.
Shapes
The shape of the glass is also very important, as it concentrates the flavor and aroma (or bouquet) to emphasize the varietal’s characteristic. The shape of the glass also directs the wine itself into the best area of the mouth from the varietal. Though to say that a given varietal has a specific target area of delivery in the mouth is wildly speculative, despite the marketing attempts of prominent stemware manufacturers, such as Riedel and Spiegelau, to make consumers believe this. Some small benefit may be derived from drinking a given varietal from its specially designed glass, but to go so far as to say it improves the taste of the wine would be to go too far. In general the opening of the glass is not wider than the widest part of the bowl.

The stem of a glass is an important feature as it provides a way to hold the glass without warming the wine from body heat. It also prevents fingerprints from smearing the glass, and makes the glass easier to swirl. Except for the wine connoisseur, wine glasses can be divided into three types: red wine glasses, white wine glasses and champagne flutes. A new trend for wine glasses is the “stemless” wine glass which come in a variety of sizes and shapes as well, but are without the stem from the traditional wine glass. These glasses are typically more casual than the traditional red wine glasses, white wine glasses, and champagne flutes.

Red wine glasses
Glasses for red wine are characterized by their rounder, wider bowl, which gives the wine a chance to breathe. Red wine glasses can have particular styles of their own, such as:

Bordeaux glass: Tall with a wide bowl, and is designed for full bodied red wines like Cabernet and Merlot as it directs wine to the back of the mouth.
Burgundy glass: Larger than the Bordeaux glass, it has a larger bowl to accumulate aromas of more delicate red wines such as Pinot Noir. This style of glass directs wine to the tip of the tongue.

White wine glasses
White wine glasses are generally narrower, although not as narrow as champagne flutes, with somewhat straight or tulip-shaped sides. The narrowness of the white wine glass allows the chilled wine to retain its temperature for two reasons:

The reduced surface area of the glass (in comparison to red wine glasses) means less air circulating around the glass and warming the wine.
The smaller bowl of the glass means less contact between the hand and the glass, and so body heat does not transfer as easily to the wine.

Champagne flutes
Champagne flutes are characterized by a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl on top. The shape is designed to keep sparkling wine desirable during its consumption. The glass is designed to be held by the stem to help prevent the heat from the hand from warming the champagne. The bowl itself is designed in a manner to help retain the signature carbonation in the beverage. This is achieved by reducing the surface area at the opening of the bowl.
Champagne flutes are often used at formal engagements, such as award ceremonies and weddings.

Sherry glass
A sherry glass is drinkware generally used for serving aromatic alcoholic beverages, such as sherry, port, aperitifs and liqueurs, and layered shooters. An ISO-standard sized sherry glass is 120 ml. The copita, with its aroma-enhancing narrow taper, is a type of sherry glass.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article ” Wine Glass”