By Nick Hunter
Does wine taste better when you have it out of a bigger glass? The answer in my opinion depends. If the wine is good, a big glass will make it better - most of the time. I don't think you have to always get caught up in what is a Bordeaux glass specifically and so on, but a nice big well crafted Stem made for a Cabernet or other full bodied wine can really deliver. Deliver what? Big aromas that are released easier when drinking from a bigger stem and that will give you more palate pleasure.
Younger Bolder Red Wines
If there is one type or style of wine that benefits from a nice size glass, it is bold young reds that have great body and aroma, but maybe are also young and need the extra space in a big glass to stretch out and air - almost like a mini decanter. Even if you are someone who does not sit and smell a wine for 5 minutes before drinking it (ahem...that's me by the way), the aroma of a wine will effect the taste and your full capturing of the flavor. It just does. Try a good full body wine and pour it in to a little glass, you know the kind you'll get at a pizza restaurant or something and pour some into a nice size Cabernet Bordeaux glass. The wine will open up faster, give off stronger aroma and taste much better. Why not drink your best wines in stemware that gives you the best method of enjoyment?
Lighter Bodied Reds and Whites
I enjoy good wines with good sized glasses at low pours. That's just me and there are no rules. I don't even drink champagne out of flutes. I use white wine glasses. I like a big bowl, love to swirl and sniff so lighter bodied reds such as Chianti, Classic Style Pinot Noirs, Malbecs and others work fine for me in bigger stemware. Full bodied Chardonnays can be big and bold with a large red style wine glass as well.
Not all wines benefit from more real estate in the stem for me. Older wines that are past their peak and cheaper everyday bottles will only fade out faster or just taste worse than they would out of a little glass with a high pour!
These are mainly preferences by yours truly and certainly more opinion than fact. There is very little about wine enjoyment that is totally based on fact. Still, do yourself a favor and drink your best wines out of a nice big glass and get your whole head in there!
Nick Hunter is an online author and wine enthusiast. He operates Nick's Wine World. A blog that has Wine Tasting Notes and products. He also manages and uses Nick's Classified Ads - A free classified ad site that has wine service links and other business to business postings.
Article Copyright Disclaimer: Only the complete unedited text of this article, including links and author mention can be used or reproduced.
Recommended Wine Book and Products:
The Wine Bible is broken into countries, hitting all of the major wine producers and most of the minor ones. Each section gives detailed descriptions of the country's wines (with chapters on individual regions when necessary), highlighting specific wine producers and individual wines, as well as talking about local foods, customs, and other tidbits that add to the reading experience.
The book is peppered with questions ranging from "How long should I keep a Beaujolais?" to strategies on creating and stocking a wine cellar.
Wine Tasting Notes
