PERSONALIZED WINE GLASSES
Wine is best appreciated when one uses the correct wine glasses. A fun and new trend in wine glasses are personalized wine glasses. These can be stemmed or stemless wine glasses. Whereas, once upon a time, high end crystal goblets ruled the roost of wine snobs, more and more people are putting their own stamp on glasses, whether for personal use or as wedding gifts. The name of the couple and the date of the union can be engraved into personalized wine glasses. Engraved wine glasses do not affect the taste of the wine and when tastefully done can be a wonderful addition to any wine lover’s gallery.
In general, the weight of the wine will determine the weight of the glass. In other words “heavier” reds will be poured into larger more bowl shaped glasses than lighter white wines. The bowls are differently shaped. Reds will be served in a rounder flatter bottomed bowl, and whites will be served in a taller, smaller bottomed bowl. The surface level that is exposed directly to air is what allows air to interact with the wine and have it “open” for a more genuine taste.
It is important when you are personalizing or engraving wine that the ability to see the wine when held up to the light is not affected by any design or lettering. This is why you will never see fully colored wine glasses in places where wine is taken seriously. The color and “texture” of the wine are as important as the aroma and taste. Many will argue you cannot have one without the others.
Keep in mind as well that you want to the design to be differently placed depending on whether or not you are choosing stemmed or stemless wine glasses. You want to be able to hold the wine without feeling any indents from the engraving and you want to be able to hole it with enough room to look up into the glass in the light. So much can be said about a wine simply from its color. Did you know an older wine will have a brownish red shade to it and a newer win will look more purple? Or that white wine isn’t white at all, but very often a shade of green or yellow and more rarely, but still seen, a light brown.
If you are serving wine at a tasting, make sure the wine is set on white napkins or table cloths so that the background color does nor detract from the color of the wine.
Your design should not impact aroma at all, so long as nothing prevents you from being able to hold the glass firmly enough to swirl the wine and release the sensations. Most of our ability to taste is connected with our ability to smell. This is why wine tasters will take their time, swirling and sniffing prior to tasting. On a side note, this is why it is a bad idea to wear perfumes or cologne to wine tasting events, as those scents will mix with and often overpower the aroma of the wine.
The shape and size of the glasses will also help you in the tasting as certain shapes and sizes make the wine meet a particular area of your tongue first. The red wines will fall more towards the back of your mouth as the bowl is larger and the surface bigger. Whites will fall towards the front more. Note not only the taste, but the aftertaste. If you want to get a real feel for the sensations that each wine causes from the different shapes and sizes of the glasses used to drink them in, try this experiment. Take a bottle of wine that you know well, one you drink regularly, and enjoy. Pour about 2-3 ounces of the same wine into 6 differently shaped glasses. Its okay if you are pouring white wine into Bordeaux glasses, the point is to experience the different tastes and tongue sensations and see for yourself that when wine appreciators uses multiple glasses, its not to be snobby about wine, but to truly enjoy all the nuances that the wine maker intended. Cheers.