Wine Glasses

Stemmed glasses are designed to help keep the wine at the proper temperature, and the proper way to drink from the wine glass is to grasp it by the stem, thus insulating the bowl from the heat of one's hand. This method prevents fingerprints from smearing the glass, resulting in an improved appearance of the wine. Stemless glasses are designed for drinking wines such as cognac, where the warmth of the hand helps to bring out the frangrance.

The highest quality wine glasses are usually made of leaded crystal, which offers a higher index of refraction which affects the light passing through the wine. Coloring or frosting wine glasses is unusual, due to the interference with the perception of the wine. Blown glass is used for most intermediate wine glasses, having the advantage of being thinner and smoother that cut glass. Cut or fused glass can also interfere with the flavor of the wine.

Wine glasses for red wine have a rounder, wider bowl,  giving the wine a chance to breath. Red wines are normally consumed at room temperature, and the larger surface area of the red wine glass allows quicker cooling after hand contact.  White wine glasses are narrower, with straighter sides. This allows the chilled white wine to retain its temerature better by reducing contact with the hand and by reducing the amount of air to circulate around the glass.