BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Wine Is Glassware Important?

How important is your glassware to you. Do you insist on only using white wine glasses with whites and red wine glasses with reds?

I find a HUGE difference in the taste of a wine depending on what type of glass it's in. I've done tastings with the exact same wine in different shaped glassware and it's amazing how different it can taste. The wine can taste really incredible, and really awful, just by varying the glass shape.

If you're trying to get the best value for your dollar, the glassware makes a huge difference. You can get an $8 bottle of wine and have it taste absolutely incredible, or have it taste atrocious, just by adjusting the glass.

I do believe in careful decanting of my wine and shape of the glassware based on the wine's type. However, I do not, personally, believe the actual makeup of the glass would make a great difference (e.g., common glass, crystal or ????).

Kitty

I agree with Lisa that the shape is important, and with Kitty that the material is less important.

One thing I always insist on is absolutely clean glasses. When I go out to eat I always smell my glass. If it smells like dishwashing detergent I send it back to be rinsed out. This is one of the biggest killers of wine.

Brava!!!! Here's where my hubby flinches, BUT if we are going out to a special dinner and/or a special restaurant - I may carry my own wine glasses depending on the history/reputation of the place.

Dirty glasses or super dish detergent glasses are absolute taste killers and appetite killers for me!

Kitty

I only have white wine glasses and flutes right now. When I have Champagne I insist on using flutes. It isn't worth drinking Champagne without them.

What's cool with Champagne is that the bubbles come from imperfections in the glass. So if you carve an initial in the bottom of the flute, the bubbles will come up in that shape. It works great with easy letters like "L" <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Way too much can be said about glasswork. Am not sure about material, but am sure that the thinner the glass, the better, but also more expensive. Shapes vary from wine to wine. If you're into being completely professional with wines, you'll need quite a few sets. You'll usually need a set for white wine. And maybe three for the red. The set you choose depends on the age of the wine.

How do you decant?

I have a Riedel decanter -

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Excellent choice indeed. Riedel glasswork for wine is the best you can really get. The most professional obviously. (I'm not talking about expensive glasswork by designers such as Versace, they are more state of the art).

Old wines should be decanted, trully. Not always though, sometimes it's enough to leave them be for a few minutes in the glass and then take it. Sometimes, you need to open a bottle half an hour before consuming and live it that way. And often you do need to decant. Temperatures vary, older wines tend to be better at higher temperatures, 18 degrees Celcius. Younger are better at 14-16 degrees. Whites are best at 6-8 degrees. Sometimes you decant for 30 minutes, sometimes for an hour or two and sometimes for two days! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> As for the temperature problem while decanting ... you can fight it with either chilling the decanter prior to decanting, so it will hold the temperature for a while, or you can put this special medical thingie (don't know how it is cold), it contains some sort of gelly substance, you put it in freezer and then apply on a body part, when need. So, you put it under the decanter. I've done it many times, and it works just fine. Temperature is crucial, I always measure it, since wine often is worthless at low temperatures (or too high). Any decanting experience you can share?