SERVEWARE

You might have noticed that there are lots of glassware choices out there. A basic wineglass serves most purposes. Here are some thoughts:

Avoid Lead
There are some really cute, painted glasses available. Be sure to check the lead content before you buy.

Do You Need Crystal?
Winegirl thinks you can get buy with blown glass, and move up to crystal when your salary allows. It's really painful to break a stem off of a $40 crystal champaigne flute.

Go Stemless?
Several glassware manufacturers are marketing these as the solution to broken stems. Winegirl has tried them. They work, but with some drawbacks: if your hand is small, they can be hard to hold. Also, the heat from your hand will warm your wine quickly. You will leave finger prints, which makes your glass look icky.

What Shape for What Wine?
The shape of the glass is considered important because it concentrates the flavor and aromas in specific ways to make that wine taste best. Some say that it positions the wine at the perfect place in the mouth... (really?) Unless you're a wine connoisseur, you can get by just fine with 3 types: a set for whites, a set for reds, and a set of sparkling wine flutes.

• Red wine glasses are round with a wide bowl, to help the wine breathe. A Bordeaux glass (for full bodied Cabernet and Merlot types) are taller, to direct wine to the back of the mouth. A Burgundy glass (for Pinot & other lighter style reds) has a bigger bowl to accumulate the aromas of these more delicate red wines. This style of glass directs wine to the tip of the tongue.
• White wine glasses are narrower than red glasses, sort of tulip shaped. This shape is meant to help chilled wine stay cold two ways: smaller surface area means less warm air circulating around the wine, and the smaller bowl means less contact with the drinker's hand. This can be used with chilled red wines too.
  
• Champaigne flutes are designed to help contain the sparkling wine's carbonation longer. You may have see glasses with a really wide bowl with short sides, which defeats this purpose. These are called "Champaign Coupes" and were rumored to be shaped after Marie Antionette's breasts, but were actually started in England around 1660's, nearly a century before Miss Marie. Maybe they were shaped after Queen Elizabeth I ?