Tasting
How to choose a wine glass?
Choose your glass according to the type of wine (red, white, rosé, champagne), its grape variety and vineyard. The shape of the glass is not purely aesthetic: it enhances the wine and influences the perception of its aromas.
Which glasses to choose for red wine?
Choose a stemmed glass with a shape adapted to the nature of the red wine and its grape variety. That's why there are so many different types of wine glass to choose from.
- Choose a balloon glass, or a Burgundy glass.. These rounded glasses help aerate the wine. This type of glass is also ideal for serving red wines made from Pinot Noir and, of course, Burgundy grapes.
- Choose a Bordeau glass (a more slender, tapering tulip shape) for red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux grape varieties.
Aveine's advice
Don't use a stemless wine glass. Contact with your palm heats up the wine, making it harder to enjoy. This shape is also conducive to unsightly fingerprints.
Which glasses to use to enjoy a white wine?
To enjoy a white wine, choose a smaller glass than for red wines. White wine glasses should be narrower in diameter than their shoulders. The shape of white wine glasses is slimmer, and their capacity smaller than that of red wine glasses. It allows aromas to blossom and molecules not to evaporate. To enjoy your whites, especially light wines, tulip-shaped glasses are ideal.
Note that some white wines, like Chardonnay, require a glass with a wider opening.
In which glasses to drink and serve champagne?
Champagne is drunk from a tulip-shaped wine glass, flute or coupe. The glass should not be too narrow to allow the champagne, which is a wine, to breathe.
The cup has several disadvantages: faster oxygenation and dispersion of aromas in the air. This makes it harder for your nose to grasp the subtleties.
Cup or flute, there are two schools of thought. Specialists tend to more or less agree that the best way to enjoy champagne - without leaving your bubbles in it! - is the tulip-shaped wine glass.
The role of the glass: an indispensable wine-tasting accessory
The wine glass highlights aromas and allows you to appreciate all their subtleties. In fact, the shape of the glass and the ratio between the diameter of the glass (at the shoulder) and the diameter of the opening (at the rim) influence the olfactory perception of aromas by developing their intensity. The glass is also a container that helps aerate the wine, opening up its bouquet of aromas.
The glass also offers a visual experience, the spectacle of a wine's color. A crystal glass is brighter and more transparent than a glass. It brings elegance to your tasting and a pleasant touch to every sip. This design object is an eye-catcher for passionate connoisseurs and bon vivants alike, whether filled or awaiting the precious nectar of the bacchus.
Final tip for serving wine? Always fill the glass to shoulder level.
Did you know that?
The universal tasting glass is the INAO glass.