Wine accessories - The three musketeers: The glass(es)

So time again to continue with the "Wine accessories". After having spent some time on Athos (the corkscrew) and Porthos (the wine carafe) we will no focused on the last one: ARAMIS - the wine glass -.

Havasu Falls
(c) Wikipedia,
User: Moondigger

The glass itself has in many ways the same - lets call it - responsibility like the carafe: to provide the wine with the right amount of aeration and while doing so supporting the wine development. So this brings us actually to a very wide range of different kind of glasses. Why? Well there are actually for nearly every kind of wine and wine type (e.g. red wine, white wine, Bordeaux, Pinot noir and so on) a variety of different kind of glasses. They differ most in the size of the glass, their shape and also in the diameter.....Wait! What? Shape - okay... but diameter? Yeah I was also first confused but then also fascinated by this.

The shape is important for how the air is getting into the wine and also how well you can smell it. Imagine yourself the edge of a mountain where a waterfall is running down. The same can be applied to the shape of a glass. Actually the way how the air is "falling" into the glass contributes to the wine development. So there is a difference if the air is rumbling into the wine or if it drops/runs smoothly into it. If you now have a closer look onto the shape of a glass again... of what does this shape might also remind you of? Any idea? Think of that in which Santa Claus is always pushing himself trough? A chimney! I can see you might don't clearly understand it. Well when you have chimney the air normally will go upwards. So if you now combine the waterfall with the chimney system you might start to realize it where I wanna go.... So this... let say it a little bit more professional... this "exchange system" (air is getting in and develop the wine, while the developed aroma - volatile - compounds get upwards) is definitely fascinating. 

Two basic - classic - wine
glasses. Both can be used
either for red and for white
wine. 

Now to the diameter. Well the diameter of the glass restricts the maximum amount of air getting into the wine. Again this is similar to the carafe effect. You now see my fascination about glasses. However I would like to point out here, that it doesn't really matter if you have for every wine the right glass. The only two glasses you should have is a "basic" glass for red and and one for white wines. The difference between those two is easy - in most cases there is no! Sometimes there can be a difference in the diameter and also if the glass is more narrow or more bulky. Bulky is more for red wines, while more narrowed one's are preferred for white ones. But technically spoken in the beginning you will simply just need one glass. Personally I have currently one only type of glass and I think I will stick to it the next years. Having a look on all other kind of glass...pff....bref...mince alors, they are just too expensive! 

And speaking of the glass structure (normal glass, crystal glass, plumb crystal glass). Well I still stick to the normal glass. Since I already have a plumb crystal carafe I think that will do most of the job for the wine development so that I can save some money on the wine glass itself and still might be able to enjoy the taste nearly to the fullest!  

Okay thats been it for today! Hope you enjoyed reading it. À bientôt mes amis! 

PS: I recently had a talk with an elder gentleman from Israel, we started talking about some things and ended up talking about wine glasses. He told me that in former times people used to drink wine from silver cups. Because the silver didn't oxidized the wine and therefore supported the taste. I tought that was quite interesting. And I have to read more about this fact. Indeed it might be true, I think - if I am not mistaken - the silver has a higher redox potential and that can be the reason why it protects the wine form oxidizing - okay enough of the chemical bla bla -. Short I think that is possible and I have to check it. 

 "My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle." Henny Youngman