STEMMED vs. STEMLESS GLASSES
Why does the stem of a wine glass matter? There are some practical “non-wine” related reasons that many people like stemless wine glasses. They are much easier to clean and to story and for most of us, they break less often. Please note though, either the stemmed or the stemless wine glasses can be personalized.
There are many famous wine producing countries that have been enjoying wine from glasses without stems for many years. Spain is one country and so is Italy. Italy’s wine glasses look more like American regular juice glasses and rather than having the bowl shape that is popular with the current stemless glasses for wine in American, they are often flat bottomed and even square shaped.
Many people find the stemmed glasses more elegant and consider the tumbler style glasses to be on par with the red SOLO cups of college beer drinking days. There will always be a fair amount of ritual (or snobbery depending on your perspective) when it comes to wine selection.
MORE THAN A PRETTY FACE
Its not all about aesthetics however. Stems keep the drinkers hands away from the bowl holding the wine. This keeps the temperature of the wine inside the glass more even, and prevents warm hands from warming up the wine.
Many restaurants serve white wine so cold that experienced tasters will not try the wine until it warms up a bit. You might have even seen them holding the stemmed glass from the bowl to help expedite this. It is true that white wine can be served too cold to truly be enjoyed as the taste is muted after a certain coldness. But most often, white wine is served properly chilled and the stemmed glasses allow for slower drinkers to keep the wine cold longer.
If you have both red and white wine glasses at home, notice that the wine glasses may or may not be the same height, but the stem on the white wine glass is almost always longer. This is done purposefully to keep the warmth of your hands farther away from the bowl.
When you want to experience the aroma of a nice wine, it is opened up by swirling the wine in the glass. If you have a stem on your glass, it is much easier to do this. Often you will also want to look to the color and the clarity of the wine – can you see through it? Is there a brownish tint on the bottom of the glass when you hold it up to the light (a common feature in Merlots especially). But it is very difficult to hold a stemless wine glass up to the light to see the bottom. It is not impossible but you will likely have to put your fingers on the area from which you drink and that can get messy over time.
There are many wine that can be easily enjoyed in either type of glass. I am only picky about very fine wines and then I will insist on a stem. That said, one of my favorite personalized stemless wine glasses are ones that have these letters etched on the side in fancy cursive: YN.
Wine is to be enjoyed. Your preference matters most, but still leave the red Solo cups in the drawer for your next picnic.