Part of the pleasure of drinking wine is the procedure itself; the bottle opening, the smelling, the tasting and of course – choosing the glass, holding it and allowing it to transfer you into another dimension of class, elegance and sophistication. Ah all the (rather weird) reasons why people love wine..
Just to capture the immense importance of the glass in the wine drinking process, I’ll share a story of what happened to me in a club once. I’ve never been this insulted ever – speaking in wine terms.
To be fair, the club wasn’t exactly fancy, but rather modest and very simple – you’d expect at least the basic service. And when I ordered a bottle of white wine for me and my friend, and the waiter came with two glasses for water, I snapped; is he actually going to serve wine to me in water glasses?! Apparently, he was. There was a fuss about me not paying if he plans on leaving us with a $100 bottle of wine and water glasses, so we returned it because they didn’t have white wine glasses! I couldn’t believe what I lived through and demonstratively left the so-called club.
While I can’t say that everyone knows the importance of the white wine glass in the wine drinking procedure, at least people who run a club, a restaurant or a cafe, definitely should and therefore, no excuses here. I personally, am a huge wine lover. Red, white, rose – I have a stash of them in my home and enjoy an occasional glass every once in a while, as my mood dictates. I also have three kinds of glass sets: one for red, one for white and one for rose wine. Why? Because when I quaff, I like to quaff in style and be able to let my mind drift away in some fine places under the guidance of a rather magical aroma. You can’t do that in a water glass for God’ sake.
Particularly in this case, the white wine glass is a tall, slim glass with a rather small bowl, definitely smaller than that of the red wine glass. According to the manufacturer, the material they’re made of can be either “unbreakable” or break resistant. The unbreakable wine glasses aren’t made of glass actually. These are made of copolyester which is a material a lot similar to acrylic than it is to glass. The break resistant glasses are made of materials that make them a lot stronger and resistant to breakage.
Next thing is the vast palette of shapes of the white wine glass. It’s important to know that each type of white wine gets served in a different glass. For instance, Chardonnay is served in a glass with a bowl slightly wider and shorter than the standard white wine glass, while Port wines are served in a lot smaller glasses with a much longer bowl.
Why are there so many different types of glasses for wine, you may ask?
The shape of the glass influences the taste of the wine big time. Red wine needs to be served in larger and wider bowls so that the aromas of the wine are experienced better, unlike white wine, for example.
So yes, the glass you get your wine served in matters as much as the wine you’re sipping. Next time you decide to indulge in an hour of happiness with a glass of wine, make sure you get it in the right glass.