Wine Glasses & Stemware

Every serious wine lover has a collection of wine stemware for different types of wines and different wine-drinking occasions. There is no limit to the number of glasses you can have in your wine glass collection. Serious collectors often have more than twenty styles, each designed for different types of wines. All wine glasses are designed in a way that directs the wine to the parts of the mouth where its flavor will be most appreciated.

Riedel Crystal Sets the Standard

There are many excellent brands and styles of stemware available on the market today, but they are all judged by the standard set by the famed Austrian Riedel Crystal.

The four basic types of wine glasses include:

A general-purpose white wine glass: The white wine glass is smaller, in order to prevent rapid warming of the wine once it has been poured.

Two types of red wine glasses —for Bordeaux and Burgundy: The Bordeaux glass (alsosuitable for Cabernet and Merlot) is larger than the white wine glass, and allows for more development of the bouquet. The Burgundy glass is the largest in any wine stemware collection exactly because Burgundy-type wines, such as pinot noir, are subtle and they need a much larger area in which to gather their aromas.

A Champagne Flute:. The champagne flute is that it's tall to allow the proper development of bubbles.

In addition, you might add the small dessert wine glass to enjoy the exceptional tastes of Ice Wines, or if you enjoy Rosé wines, aglass similar to the white wine glass, but with a slightly wider body to allow the aroma to develop.

Wine Glass Tip:

Never take a glass from a cabinet and pour wine into it. Just before serving, always rewash your stemware in very hot, sudsy water and rinse it over and over again. Make sure it has absolutely no smell...if it does, wash it again, or don't use it!