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Kate Dingwall is an experienced spirits writer and WSET-trained sommelier with an award-winning restaurant group. She has been writing about the bar and spirits world for five years, including extensive coverage of glassware. She drinks from Riedel’s Ouverture every day, a Waterford vintage cut crystal when she’s feeling fancy, and a Josephinenhutte when she’s breaking out the good stuff. The world of wine glasses is vast and full of wonders. The right glass can take an everyday Cab and make it taste sublime or bring out aromas you'd never catch with an ordinary glass from your special occasion bottle. Whatever your entertaining style or wine knowledge, every home deserves a quality set of stems, whether you're hosting the whole family for the holidays or unwinding on the couch on a Friday night. Additional reporting was done by Amina Lake Abdelrahman, a commerce editor, and Laura Denby, a WSET Level 2 Award in Wine and Spirits Expressive, low-acid wines thrive in Riedel’s 12.38-ounce crystal VINUM Viognier/Chardonnay glasses. This particular collection was first launched in 1986, but the glassware company has been around since the mid-18th century and is credited with pioneering varietal-specific stemware. The mouth of this particular glass is not too narrow, designed to direct the flow of liquid to the desired area of the palate for optimized tasting based on its designated wine style. The VINUM line’s Viognier and Chardonnay glasses also work well for Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio/Gris/Blanc, and more. They’re also dishwasher-safe for your convenience.
Mark Thomas’ glasses are known for their unique profile and sommelier-loved quality. Made with lead-free crystal the glasses can survive years of dishwashing without clouding up. They have a shorter stem, which gives you more grip when swirling and aerating and makes them more stable to hold. In terms of shape, I recommend buying one set of white glasses and one set of red (Burgundy are more useful than Bordeaux) glasses. Although Zalto has challenges because it is so delicate and thin, the absolute pleasure and improvement of each glass is worth every moment of stress…but only if you can handle being overly cautious with the glass. My advice: Get one or two Zalto Burgundy glasses for special occasions and buy the Riedel Veritas or Spiegelau Vino Grande for your everyday enjoyment. Ahead, discover all the winners and a thorough breakdown of our testing methods. We’ve also included a primer on the merits of different wine glass shapes. Best All-Around Wine Glass: Zalto Megan Soll is the Associate Editorial Director for Commerce on Food & Wine and has a WSET Level 1 Award in Wine and Spirits Many of the world's finest white wines are all about precision and elegance—and those also happen to be two key attributes of "The Perfect Wine Glass" from designer Richard Brendon and renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson. Featuring a tall, thin profile and crafted from gorgeous hand-blown crystal, this glass is an excellent vessel for most white wines. We appreciated its beadless rim and base, and we loved how dainty it felt in the hand. That said, we did find ourselves a little nervous about breaking it!This Pinot Noir glass did equally well with red Burgundy, Nebbiolo, Bordeaux and more tannic reds but didn't allow for quite the nuance of flavors and aromas in red wine as the winning Zalto glass. Best Wine Glass for the Casual Wine Drinker: Spiegelau Vino Grande
Different types of glass or crystal are more appropriate for various environments,” describes Diane Clemenhagen of Geraldine’s Austin. “A busy restaurant or bar will need something a bit more durable while your home collection might get less use and can be more delicate. A good rule is the less you use it, the more delicate you can go and vice versa.” Wine glasses are designed with stems to keep your warm hands off of the bowl of the glass, which will warm the wine. Stemless glasses were designed to be compact for storage and cleaning and less prone to breakage. If you tend to serve everyday “house” level wines, or if you have a lot of kids and dogs running around your parties, stemless might be the way to go for safety’s sake. However, if you enjoy higher-level wines, having stemmed glasses on hand can be worth it to enjoy them properly. Our sommelier experts include Laura Newman, Owner of Queen’s Park and Neon Moon (Level 2 Somm.), Seth Dunagen, Helen (Level 2 Somm.), and Trent Stewart and Brendan Loper from Golden Age WineThe first thing that anyone will notice about this glass is the unique and fascinating shape—but there's much more to the Josephinenhütte Josephine No. 3 Red Wine Glass than what first meets the eye. A visually striking glass crafted from lead-free crystal, it's also an ideal vessel for your next glass of robust red wine. While it might be a bit pricey compared to other options, it's a statement piece—and also happens to be a very practical red wine vessel. I guess we should start with the most important question: Does a glass really make a difference to a wine’s taste? After copious research and testing, I can tell you that glassware does matter to your enjoyment of wine. Certain glass shapes and materials do enhance wine’s aroma and flavor—and some even detract from it! I tested several highly regarded wine glasses and found the best premium, mid-tier, and affordable options for all kinds of wine drinkers.
The Pinot Noir glass did equally well with red Burgundy, Nebbiolo, Bordeaux and more tannic reds. Fuller whites were even slightly better in this one than in the Zalto. The white wine glass enhances the aromas of German Riesling, Italian whites like Fiano, and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Tara Guthrie of San Antonio’s Chase’s Place continues, “If you have lees or stains that have accumulated at the bottom, use a soft scrub brush, avoid trying to scrub the glass with your hands because the crystal could easily break and hurt you. Find a brush with a 16-inch handle and the ability to bend it for use on decanters or easy access to hard-to-reach red wine stains.” Generally speaking, it’s smart to keep glassware specific to medium and fuller-bodied white wines as they can easily stand in as light-bodied red wine glasses, making them ideal for transitioning through a coursed meal.
How We Tested the Wine Glasses
Red wines can be unyielding, their flavors and aromas wrapped up in layers of tannins that take hours to unfold, but a well-designed wine glass can be extremely helpful in speeding along that process. We found that the unique design of the Josephine No. 3 allows the wine to be swirled vigorously with very little risk of any splashing out. Additionally, the wide surface area aids in aeration, and the flowing tapered design effectively conducts all those newly-released aromatics up to the nose. This is a purpose-built vessel for the red wine lover who doesn't shy away from making a definitive visual statement. Céline Bossart's entire journalistic career has been rooted in the world of beverage. Naturally, this involves extensive market research, which translates to a robust glassware collection built over the years.
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