If you are serious about wine drinking, it is nice to have a good set of white, red (Bordeaux and Burgundy style), and sparkling (Champagne) glasses.

White wine glasses

Generally, white wine glasses [find at IWA or Wine Enthusiast] are narrower than red wine glasses, although not as narrow as Champagne and sparkling wine flutes, with a tulip shape. White wine glasses are purposefully narrower so the chilled wine will stay chilled for longer. This occurs because of the reduced liquid surface area on top of the wine and the reduced surface area of the glass in contact with warm hands.

Red wine glasses: Bordeaux or Burgundy (Pinot Noir) style

Typically, red wine glasses [find at IWA or Wine Enthusiast] have a rounder, wider bowl than white wine glasses. This wider bowl leads to a larger surface area of wine at the top of the glass, which allows the wine to breathe more. Red wine glasses generally can be thought of as two types:

• Bordeaux glasses: these red wine glasses are the taller of the two red wine types, and they have a taller but still broad bowl. These glasses are generally useful for most types of red wine, especially full bodied red wines like Cabernet and Merlot.

• Burgundy (Pinot Noir) glasses: these red wine glasses are shorter and broader than the Bordeaux glasses. Burgundy red wines from France are all made with the Pinot Noir grape, which is a more delicately styled red. So the Burgundy glasses have a bigger bowl to accumulate the complex aromas. The Burgundy glasses work very well with Pinot Noirs from anywhere in the world.

Champagne and sparkling wine glasses (flutes)

Finally, Champagne or sparkling wine glasses [find at IWA or Wine Enthusiast] are often called flutes. They have a long stem, with a tall, narrow bowl. Again, the shape is all about surface area. The small amount of liquid wine surface area keeps the temperature from rising and lets a smaller amount of the bubbles escape. The small glass size means you have to use your fingertips to hold the glass, which also keeps the temperature down.

Riedel and Schott Zwiesel wine glasses

You might be saying to yourself, “This is all great information, but what brand of wine glasses should I buy?” Two great brands of wine glasses that we use are Riedel and Schott Zwiesel break-resistant glasses.