How to Use a Glass of wine

Tasting a good wine is an experience that involves all of the senses: smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing all come into play when we open a new bottle of wine and savor its aroma. It would be a shame to spoil this little moment of joy by holding our glass in the wrong way!

But let’s see in detail the ways in which a glass of wine is held and why it is important. The correct ways to hold a glass of wine, bearing in mind certain basic rules that we have already stated a little while ago, include:

1. From the stem, with three fingers. Thumb, index and middle finger wrap around the stem of the glass, while the other fingers rest naturally on the base of the glass. 

2. From the stem, with two fingers (thumb and forefinger). This method is optimal when a glass is very light: the index finger is wrapped around the stem of glass while the thumb holds its position firmly.

3. Directly from the base. Thumb and index finger embrace the base of the glass, while the other fingers close at the bottom to support the lower part of the base.

One of the main reasons why it is always a good idea to keep a glass of wine by the stem is to avoid heating the glass. Almost all wines are in fact served at a certain temperature to ensure that they are enjoyed at their best: contact with the hand can alter the temperature of wine since the average body temperature of a person is around 36.5 degrees. The heat of the body increases the temperature of wine, and this can alter its aromatic profile.

Another reason concerns hand hygiene. Even if at first glance we do not notice it, our hands may have captured odors that compromise the wine (think of soaps, sanitizing gels, tobacco or what we ate with our hands). Not only that: fingers, and in general hands, are parts of the body that are most in contact with objects, surfaces and people. By avoiding contact with the glass, we will also avoid leaving fingerprints, which are certainly not elegant to look at.

Red wine and white wine

In addition to the correct way to hold a glass of wine, we must not forget another golden rule of Oenology: each wine has its own glass. In fact, each wine has certain characteristics which needs to be enhanced by the right glass.

Red wines, which often have a complex bouquet, need space and oxygen. The glasses for red wines will therefore be more rounded and voluminous, they have a wide opening which, at the rim, curves slightly upwards so that wine can come into contact with a sufficient quantity of oxygen to better open the bouquet.

White wine glasses, on the other hand, have a narrower and more tapered shape.Since white wine is a wine that must be served cold and not at room temperature, glasses have a long stem that helps grip and allows wine to not heat up too quickly. For white wines, the rule is that the less you pour, the slower it will heat up.

A different argument applies to rosé wine glasses: they are in fact medium-sized glasses, given that unlike reds, rosé wines do not need much oxygen. Glasses are taller and more slender, and the opening tapers at the edge so that the fruity aromas of rosé wines are released directly on the palate.