Wine tasting: which glasses to choose to drink better

Often considered only as decorations and ornaments for the table, or simply to fulfill their primary function - that is, being able to allow to drink - in reality the glasses can take on real roles depending on which wine, or liqueur, is being tasted. We do not only speak of sommelier tasting glasses, but simply of a correct use to be able to taste, still only at home at home, the wine in the correct way. Thanks to the shapes and sizes available on the market, the tasting glasses will allow you to taste, with your sense of smell and taste, the wine in its most complete essence, and also get to catch nuances that, with any glass, they would get lost.

The basic characteristics for the perfect tasting glasses

Before going into the details and in which tasting glasses to use, depending on the wine you are going to drink, it will be necessary to explain some fundamental characteristics to be able to consider whether you are facing a suitable glass for tasting: too often the glasses and goblets that are easily found on the market, and at low cost, could be aesthetically very pleasant but, for tasting purposes, rather difficult, thus making them only a good table furniture but bad tools for drinking. It is precisely for this reason that wine tasting glasses must be made up of a glass of excellent transparency, to allow you to admire and appreciate the color of the wine, but also its other composition characteristics: among these, the crystal material is certainly the best on the market, which allows not only perfect transparency, but also a lightness unique in its kind. Even the shape of the glass will significantly affect the tasting of a good wine, allowing you to appreciate its characteristics and aroma.

The correct use of tasting glasses

In addition to the basic characteristics, before you can taste a wine using its perfect glass, it will be necessary to take into account some good habits to be taken if you are about to taste a wine. Considering that a good wine, in addition to its flavor, must also be appreciated for its fragrance, the glass should never be completely filled, but at most to its half. Only in some exceptional cases, such as for sparkling wines, will it be possible to fill up to more than half of the glass, so as to be able to savor and admire the crackling foam. The glass itself must also have a particular temperature: for example, they must be cold in case the white or sparkling wine, while the room temperature will be fine in the case of red wines. In order not to alter the taste, the washing of the glasses must be careful, and using running water, without the use of aggressive detergents: if you use them, it will be good to rinse them properly, then clean them using a cloth that cannot release hair and lint on the glass, such as linen cloths.

The perfect shape of the glass for the perfect wine

For each wine, its glass: in fact, the shapes of the glasses have been specifically designed to allow those who taste them to be able to savor and enjoy the main characteristics of the best wines. In general, the shapes of the tasting glasses can be divided into seven macro categories, to which each of them will belong to a certain type of glass, or better to say glass, to be used. These seven macro categories are as follows:

1 - Glasses for young white and rosé wines

A medium-sized glass, with a medium-wide light, will be ideal for tasting light white wines, or rosé wines, typically fresh and fragrant, without particular intensity.

2 - Glasses for complex white wines

A glass that is large, on the other hand, will be ideal for more intense and mature white wines, so that you can admire and savor its aromas in their entirety.

3 - The glasses for classic red wines

In order to taste a classic red wine, you can use, as for light white wines, a glass of medium size and amplitude.

4 - The glasses for structured red wines

The tasting glasses for structured red wine, on the other hand, must have a rather wide light, such as the baloon, which thanks to the flared edge will allow the nose to be brought closer inside and to be able to savor, with the sense of smell, all the aromas and scents of the wine you are drinking.

5 - The glasses for sparkling wines

The most traditional of the glasses, the flûte is certainly the ideal glass for tasting a sparkling wine, so that you can fully appreciate its foam and its color. The narrow size of the glass also allows you to concentrate the aromas and flavors of the wine.

6 - Glasses for raisin wines

Unlike the other glasses, small glasses, basically rounded, must be used for raisin wines, so that they have the necessary space to be able to spread the aromas and flavor uniformly. To allow a better grip on the glass, without heating it, these particular glasses are equipped with a long and elegant stem, aesthetically appealing and useful for tasting purposes.

7 - INAO compliant glasses

There are also special glasses, called INAO/ ISO tasting glasses, which are ideal for tasting wines according to ISO (International Organization for Standardization). These glasses have small and stocky dimensions: a compromise of ideal characteristics among all the glasses listed above, especially useful during a tasting tour in case you do not have the suitable glasses for each wine.