Imagine you’re en route to a party—a pretty casual affair. Ever the prepared guest, you pick up a couple of bottles of wine on your way. With more guests showing up than initially accounted for, the host apologises as he rummages through kitchen cabinets in search of a spare wine glass.

After a few minutes of searching, he looks back at you dejectedly—not only are there no wine glasses left, but the only available vessels for use are plastic cups! You can’t help feeling a little disappointed upon hearing this, but you take the cup with a smile—determined not to let anything spoil your mood. As the night progresses, you can’t help but notice that every wine you try tastes flat and dull. The wine is not to blame—it’s the cup.

While it’s perfectly OK (and sometimes more convenient) to drink wine out of something other than glass—you might notice it can completely change your wine tasting experience. For example, not only can the taste of plastic overpower a wine’s flavour and distort its colour, but the shape of a typical plastic cup may cause a wine to oxidise more quickly, leading to a one-dimensional flavour profile. Lastly, drinking wine from a plastic cup doesn’t exactly create the same level of emotional and aesthetic enjoyment that one experiences when drinking from a traditional wine glass. Using the latter can elevate even the most casual get-together, which can in turn lift the mood of your guests.

Our advice is that—where possible—serving your vino in wine glasses is preferable to alternative vessels. However, this begs the question… what kind of wine glass should you use?

Shopping for glassware can be overwhelming, as there are endless styles and shapes to choose from—your average homewares store will sell everything from champagne flutes to giant bulbous-looking things that resemble fishbowls. Sometimes wine glasses are created with particular varieties in mind. You might see “perfect for pinot noir” printed on the box of a new set of wine glasses. But does that mean you need to purchase a different glass for each style of wine? Surely that’s excessive!? While some fine-dining restaurants may keep several kinds of wine glass on-hand, there is absolutely no reason for your average Joe to fork out hundreds of dollars for multiple sets. But there are several things you might want to consider when deciding which set of wine glasses will best suit you.

For example, if you’re primarily a red drinker, maybe opt for larger glasses, as the sizeable surface area allows ethanol to evaporate and lets tannins and spice mellow— this leads to a smoother overall experience. If you prefer white wine, a smaller bowl will help keep the wine cooler for longer and preserve acidity and delicate aromatics. Keep in mind the practical side of things too— if you have a tendency to break wine glasses or hate how fiddly they are to clean, perhaps opt for stemless glasses.

At the end of the day, there are no hard and fast rules. Pick wine glasses that you like the look of and that you like to drink from. It’s as simple as that!

Cheers,
Alexandra Douglas
and the Witches Falls Winery team