At Grape Things we absolutely love showcasing a good wine in beautiful stemware – we believe even a mediocre wine can taste better when served from a beautiful glass. Glasses come in all shapes and sizes so what’s the difference between glass and crystal.
Firstly stemware is the term most commonly used to describe all wine glasses be it crystal or glass including those without stems.
Cut or smooth, contemporary or classic if chosen well crystal and glass can add a touch of glamour at dinner parties and up the ante at special gatherings. Equally if you want to enjoy an evening in with your favourite fruity red a beautiful glass can add to the enjoyment.
Crystal and Glass
The difference between glass and crystal is that crystal contains lead oxide, which gives it that reflective clear brilliance and sparkle you don’t get with regular glass, its is also more expensive. The lead content (generally anything up to 35 per cent) is the reason crystal can be more expensive and often heavier than regular glass. A crystal glass gives of that distinctive bell like sound when they are clinked together – cheers!
Cut or Smooth
When it comes to cut crystal, where not just talking about the “cash in the attic” old-fashioned stuff. Today cut crystal can still give you a feeling of grandeur but is fashioned in a minimal way suitable for every occasion. Generally speaking when your looking at lead content 24% is fine. For those more interested in assessing wine, clear glass or plain crystal is best.
Shapes and Sizes
The shape of a glass is important as it can either emphasise or detract the characteristics of a particular style or variety. Most wine glasses have a wider base then taper in towards the rim. Until your wine gets to you – all its splendour has been squashed in the bottle (for a number of years) and is just bursting to be released – the shape of your glass should help emphasise all the love that went into the wine making process. White wine is typically served in a smaller glass to help conserve and concentrate the aromas whilst Red wine is typically served in a larger glass to help bring out the quality and allow the aromas to fully breath.
Champagne and Sparkling wine should always be served in a champagne glass be it a flute or a vintage style saucer, why? Because drinking champagne or sparkling wine from a red or white wine glass just doesn’t have the same appeal…. Ok technically the flute style enhances the flow of the bubbles so the wine and aromas can be fully appreciated.
To Stem or not to Stem
Typically the stem is important as it allows you to hold the glass without altering the temperature of the wine and swirl the wine allowing you to have a good sniff of the aromas. However having said that in our experience of using a stemless glass as you never fill the glass all the way and hold it more to the top, there is still less of a chance that you will alter its temperature. Granted it’s a little harder to swirl without a stem so it’s more down to preference.
Cleaning
Many glasses even some crystal are dishwasher safe. If you don’t have or want to use the dishwasher rinse your glasses under warm water, allow them to dry upside down then use a good fluff free cloth to polish away any streaks.
In a nutshell – in our opinion unless your assessing wine then the more beautiful the glass the better in whatever colour, design or pattern you choose be it crystal, glass cut or smooth – with the exception of shape, always stick to the correct shape bearing in mind the style of wine.
Cin-cin!
Grape Things
