How to Choose Stemware
If you've ever handed over a glass of wine to a guest only to receive a disapproving look, don't blame the wine. Your guest may just be wine-glass savvy. Happily, you don't have to share his preoccupation, but if you're buying new stemware, it can't hurt to know what you're buying. While you impress guests with your stemware choices, drop some historical facts. Wine glasses have been around since Rome, according to the philosopher Pliny (23--79 A.D.), and if you examine the 16th-century painting "The Last Supper" by Veronese, the glasses in the art should look very familiar. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Purchase stemware that suits your lifestyle. Pricey stems are high-maintenance and fragile, requiring hand-washing. Avoid stemware that can't go into the dishwasher by eliminating certain brands of high-end crystal and elaborately crafted wine glasses featuring incised art, gold rims, hollow stems and fragile bowls.
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Buy the right types of wine glasses for your home. Add crystal goblets to your must-have list if you frequently serve more than four ounces of liquid---water, iced tea and other beverages--when setting a stylish table. Avoid pricey crystal goblets if your water glasses wind up in the hands of your kids or if you rarely entertain. While you're eliminating glasses you won't use regularly, take a pass on cordial glasses, snifters, port and sherry glasses.
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Use bowl thickness and glass shape as your criteria for selecting stemware. Hold several glasses in your hand. Differentiate sturdy from heavy. Eliminate wine glasses blown of colored glass or etched with patterns if you want to be able to evaluate the wines you drink--judging color and clarity when wines are poured into dark or patterned stemware can be difficult.
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Stock up on all-purpose white-wine glasses. Use California Wine Institute criteria for evaluating and selecting these utilitarian vessels: look for white-wine glasses that are 5½ inches tall with 1¾ inch stems. These medium-size, tulip-shaped bowls will hold from 6 to 8 ounces of wine.
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Mix and match stemware for red-wine drinkers. Put Bordeaux wine glasses in your shopping cart---look for straight sides and large surface area to oxygenate varieties---if you frequently drink and serve reds. Purchase wide-based Burgundy glasses designed to maximize the aroma of bold wines like Pinot Noirs. Add Champagne flutes to your library so you're ready to celebrate special moments.
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References
- Photo Credit John Slater/Digital Vision/Getty Images
