Choosing the right glass for your cocktail, wine and whisky

• Red Wine

Red wine is generally served in a round and large bowl, which helps to oxygenate the wine to give a smoother taste. A young wine that has been stored for almost a year or two is aerated by swirling it, and the process is called oxidation or evaporation.

This process changes the chemistry of the wine to give a smoother taste with all the flavors and aromas of chocolate, citrus fruits, and spices to emerge properly. Red wine glasses are designed with a long stem, which prevents the drink from getting warm too soon with the heat of hands.

• Burgundy wine glass

Special glasses are used for wines like Red Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Dolcetto, and Beaujolais as they are more delicate than other red wines to enjoy all its aromas and flavors. A Burgundy wine glass is designed with a broader bowl and a narrow top. It accumulates the aromas of the delicate wines and allows the drinker to enjoy its special delicate flavors.

• White wine

White wine glasses are the opposite of what we use for red wines, as white wine has more delicate and light notes. White wine glasses are generally less rounded and U-shaped with a smaller mouth area, which prevents the wine from oxidizing too fast. It is generally designed this way to maintain the wine’s temperature and also enhances its flavors.

White fruity wines like Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc are served in a tall glass with a slender bowl that will preserve the delicate aromas. In the white wine family, wines with complex notes are served in a slightly broader bowl that allows the complex compounds in wine to mix with air to release a stronger odour.

• Dessert wines

Dessert wines are served in a smaller glass, as dessert wines tend to have high alcohol content and extra sweetness. Sherry glasses, sippers, and port glasses are some commonly used dessert wine glasses.

A port-wine glass generally has a long stem with a small bowl. The bowls can be straight-edged or tulip-shaped. Port wine is stronger than regular wine as it contains 20 % alcohol by volume. A smaller glass serves the drinker a smaller pour of strong, sweet wine.

• Champagne

French Champagne to Italian Franciacorta is always served in a tulip glass and not in a flute. Champagne glasses are generally short-to-medium-stemmed tulip glass with a long, narrow, upright goblet. The tulip glass is tall enough, which easily allows the carbonation process and enhances the flavor and aroma of the champagne. Every wine expert knows that a good churn of the glass helps a drink come alive, and the asymmetry of a flute makes doing impractical. On the other hand, tulip glass helps in maintaining its aeration.

• Whisky

Just like wines, there are different kinds of whisky glasses, ranging from the compact Glencairn to the extravagant snifter. Antique lowball glass or whisky tumbler with thick heavy bases are used to serve whisky neat, or whisky cocktails which takes in 7 to 12 oz. of the spirit.

When looking for drinking a smaller amount of the spirit, shot glasses are the best. Shooter glasses are preferred for double shots of whisky.

• Highball and Collins glass

A Highball glass, also called the Delmonico glass or Collins glass, designed as a tall, skinny glass with thick bases that are used to serve cocktails, especially whisky cocktails over ice.

Generally, Collins glass is straight and narrow, Highball glass is shorter and wider, and the Delmonico is the shortest of all. Apart from serving cocktails, chimney-shaped glasses also serve vodka and gin-and-tonics.

• Martini

Previously, Martini was served in cocktail glasses but the drink advanced into a mixture of vodka-based ‘tins’ that increased the serving sizes. Martini glasses are generally designed with a larger bowl that is conical at the bottom. They are iconic V-shaped glass with a thin stem and a wide rim. The triangular-shaped bowl allows the rapid release of bubbles from the drink.

• Cognac

The Tulip glass is widely agreed by experts to be the ‘king’ of Cognac glasses. Named after the flower, its shape resembles, the tulip has a long stem that climbs to a very wide bell.  This then curves inwards and flares out a little at the rim, to form a lip of sorts. Tulip glasses are designed in such a way that provides maximum surface area for the drink as it allows aroma and flavor to get into the nose of a drinker.

The purists often consider widely used brandy snifter or balloon glass to be a poorer relation of the tulip glass. The snifter is designed with a wide bell and short stem, and it narrows on reaching the rim.

Although, this also enhances the flavor of the drink but to a lesser extent than that of a tulip. Nowadays, wobble glasses are considered as the advanced version of the snifter.

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