Choosing the best wine glass for you

There are options depending on your budget, the occasion.

At some point along every wine drinker’s arc of discovery, the time comes to invest in a set of glasses.

Choosing the right one may seem complicated, confusing and occasionally overwhelming. The process can be fraught with anxiety, as many different glass styles are available, and points of view clash on what is proper and necessary.

Corkscrew aside, a stemmed glass is the only indispensable piece of equipment needed to enjoy the best a bottle has to offer, and the least expensive, easiest way to invest in better drinking is to buy a good set. Not that wine can’t be consumed without them.

Tumblers can serve as informal wineglasses, and are perfectly appropriate for simple bottles in easygoing establishments. You could drink from a porrón, a traditional Spanish glass pitcher that was a modern adaptation of the leather wineskin, or bota bag, once carried by Spanish shepherds. You may even drink straight from the bottle, though I recommend reserving this method for locker-room celebrations.

While fitting for certain occasions, these primitive vessels do not enhance the wine-drinking experience. Good stemmed glasses, on the other hand, are expressly designed to make an inherently delightful activity even better. Selecting a set is simple once you cut through the noise.

Recently, I joined my colleagues at The Sweethome, a product review site owned by The New York Times Co., to test more than 50 wineglasses. Among our recommendations was a low-priced glass, the Libbey Kentfield Estate Signature All-Purpose, at $22.99 for a set of four; a more elegant set, the Riedel Vinum Riesling/Zinfandel glass, $55 to $90 for a set of four; and a highend glass, the Zalto Denk’Art Universal glass, at $59 a glass.

Depending on your budget, any of these glasses would be excellent for all types of wine.

For some time now, glass producers have promoted the self-serving idea that every sort of wine requires a distinctive glass to intensify the aromas and flavors of the particular variety. This is nonsense. Most households need only one set of all-purpose glasses, which is perfectly fine for whites, reds, sparkling wines, rosés and fortified wines.

A good, all-purpose stemmed

glass ought to be vertically shaped, with a tall bowl that opens wide at the stem and then tapers gently inward toward the lip. This taper channels aromas upward to the nose, amplifying them as you swirl and sniff.

Over time, many wine lovers develop the habit of swirling the glass, believing that the action increases the wine’s exposure to air and activates the aromas.

I believe it. I am an inveterate swirler, to the point where I unconsciously do it even with my water glass.

In order to avoid sloshing the wine onto yourself or, worse, someone else, good glasses should be tall and capacious enough to contain a decent amount of wine when filled a third of the way up. They should not be so big that a third of a glass holds an absurd amount. The rule of thirds allows for swirling without fear of consequences.

This desirable vertical shape is often called a Bordeaux glass, which is generally contrasted with a Burgundy glass, which has a shorter, wider, more rounded bowl. These are traditional terms but in no way binding. You can certainly drink Bordeaux from a Burgundy glass, and vice versa. Burgundy glasses are not bad, but I find the Bordeaux shape to be more versatile. It works well with any sort of wine.

Good wineglasses must be clear, so that nothing interferes with a transparent display of the wine’s color. The glass should not be hued, beveled or decorated in any way that may interfere with its clarity. Nor should it flare outward like a martini glass.

At times, you may see general references to white wineglasses and red wineglasses. Invariably, the red wineglass is larger than the white wineglass. This, too, is pointless tradition, derived from the days when, as the old saw has it, “the first duty of wine is to be red.” Nowadays, nothing about white wine is subordinate to red, so there is no need for smaller glasses unless, for some reason, it’s a preference.

While having one set of allpurpose glasses is sufficient, it may be the beginning, depending on your budget and your inclinations. If you can afford it, owning an exquisite set of glasses like the Zalto Universals can be a joy, even if you only use them for special occasions.

Just as great tools can improve any experience, whether woodworking or playing guitar, so can great craftsmanship enhance the sensual pleasure of holding a glass in your hand, to say nothing of drinking the wine. The better the quality, the thinner the glass. The best glasses can seem sheer and ethereal in the hand. Lesser glasses may have a discernible ridge where the bowl joins the stem, and a thick lip at the rim. Better examples are smooth and continuous.

You may have other reasons for owning more than one set of glasses. If you like to have dinner parties where several wines are served, you may want enough glasses so that two different wines can be contrasted and enjoyed at the same time. If both wines are the same color, you will need sets that are distinct enough to avoid pouring the wrong wine into the wrong glass.

A few words about stemless glasses: I don’t like them. Sure, tumblers are fine for unremarkable wines in casual situations. But for good wines, stemmed glasses are ideal. They can be held by the stem so that the temperature of the wine won’t be altered by the warmth of the hands, and so fingerprints won’t smudge the glass.

Stemless glasses intended for good wines seem to me the epitome of reverse snobbery. They were included in the Sweethome tests, and I found them unwieldy and unpleasant to use, even as I was asked to express preferences among them. I don’t recommend them.

That said, if you are drawn to stemless glasses, follow your desires. The most important thing of all is to please yourself. In the end, let your taste be your guide.