GCOW by the glass—wine glass sizes

New short feature at Gus Clemens on Wine (GCOW)

Jun 22, 2025

Should you purchase different wine glasses to match the wine you are pouring?

Riedel, Zalto, Gabriel-Glas, and Schott Zwiesel certainly will sell you some. Makers of premium stemware created a different glass for virtually every pour wine winemakers produce. You can find yourself pouring wine into a glass that cost more than the wine you are pouring. Does it really make a difference?

On the margins, yes, but the margins are so thin the overwhelming majority of wine drinkers do not recognize them. So what to do?

If you are not a trust-fund baby, there are very serviceable ways to go.

• Buy quality. Glass thinness does make a difference most people can recognize. Crystal wine glasses are the gold standard. Although crystal can contain lead oxide, the lead does not leach into the wine, and makers now make crystal glassware that does not contain lead. Crystal glass offers near perfect transparency and very strong, very thin glass. Crystal glassware costs more, is worth it.

• One size works. A medium or medium-plus size glass will work nicely with red, white, and bubbly. Sometimes called “universal” stemware, your investment in quality, crystal, universal stemware will pay off.

• You can purchase a slightly smaller glass for use with white wine and sparkling wine. The slightly smaller size reduces the opportunity for wines to heat up in the glass. White and sparkling are best enjoyed with a bit of chill.

• Purchase a larger glass for use with red wines. Red wines often benefit from air contact, and the larger glass is ideal for swirling for oxygenation. Temperature is not as important with red wine.

• Avoid small glasses. Small glasses restrict swirling and aroma appreciation.

• Avoid standard, non-crystal stemware. The glass is thicker and less transparent. They feel clunky.

• Avoid stemless. OK, they were hip once, but wine glasses have stems for valid reasons—when you hold by the stem you do not transfer heat and fingerprints to the bowl.

• Do what you want. If you enjoy your wine in a jelly glass, by all means enjoy your wine. My first rule about wine is you make your own rules.

Links worth exploring

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.

Dave McIntyre’s WineLine Longtime Washington Post wine columnist now on Substack. Entertaining, informative.

GCOW by the glass—wine glass sizes

New short feature at Gus Clemens on Wine (GCOW)

Should you purchase different wine glasses to match the wine you are pouring?

Links worth exploring

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