How to Hold a Wine Glass Like a Pro

Wine drinking can be a sophisticated and freeing experience. Wine is the perfect drink to include with a luxurious dinner, a celebratory meal, soaking in the sunset at a vineyard with friends or relaxing on your couch in front of the tv after a long day. Whether you are enjoying a sumptuous red, a crisp white or a bubbly rose you would want to know how to hold a glass of wine the right way. To get the most out of your wine you should know how to hold wine glass properly as the pros do. You might not think how you hold your glass matters, but the way you hold your wine glass affects the drink's wine oxidation and by extension, its taste.

There is quite of debate about the correct way to hold your wine glass. Learning the recommended ways helps you maximize your wine experience no matter where you are or what kind of wine you are drinking. The proper way to hold a wine glass is a key part of enjoying wine and not to mention a crucial component of basic table manners.

Why Do You Need to Hold Your Glass Correctly?

A classic wine glass consists of a base, a bowl, and a thin glass stem connecting the two. The primary benefit of holding your wine glass by the stem is that it enhances your wine-sipping experience. For one thing, it keeps the wine cool, as all wines should be served at or below room temperature. Your body heat will increase the temperature of the wine faster if you hold the bowl of the stemmed wine glass. This could cause the wine's flavour to change. Holding the glass by the stem will keep it at the right temperature for longer, allowing you to completely appreciate the wine's aroma and flavour.

If you hold your stemmed glass by the bowl, greasy fingerprints may appear on the glassware. This will make it difficult to notice the colour of the wine clearly. You can see the different hues of the wine by holding the stem of the glass, which is an important component of wine tasting.

Another important step in wine tasting is swirling. It will encourage your wine in revealing its full taste palate more quickly. There's nearly little possibility of spilling the drink if you rest your glass on a surface, grasp the stem and then swirl it.

Is There a Wrong Way to Hold a Wine Glass?

In understanding how not to handle a wine glass, there are a few things to keep in mind. One is that you should never hold your glass towards the rim, while the other is that you should never hold it by the bowl.
Holding your wine by the bowl of the glass is improper since your hand will warm the alcohol too quickly. Because most people hold their wine glass by the stem, you might get a few weird looks or chuckles if it's your first time drinking wine at a formal gathering.

It's also not a good idea to grab your wine glass towards the rim like you would a plastic cup. For one, controlling the amount of wine consumed per taste is more difficult. Wine is a drink that should be consumed one sip at a time in order to fully appreciate the flavour profile.

To people around you, it will appear uncultured and possibly immature. People may assume you don't appreciate the beverage if you simply grasp the top of a wine glass and gulp away, whether it's aged wine or newer wine.

Anatomy of the Wine Glass

The rim, the bowl, the stem, and the base are the four main components of a wine glass. Each component has a well-defined purpose in the wine-drinking experience.

The Rim and the Base

The rim of a wine glass is just the top of the glass. The rim of the glass is one of the features that function to offer the wine more or less air exposure. The size of the rim is determined by the glass. Because white wines benefit from less oxygen exposure, the rims of white wine glasses are narrower than those of red wine glasses. The rim determines how the wine will be received in your mouth as well as how you will taste it.

The rim is an essential part of the wine glass because it has a considerable impact on the real tasting experience. If you choose the wrong rim, your tasting experience could be ruined. The bottom of the glass has a base opposite the rim. When the glass is placed on a table, the base serves as a supporting component that holds and stabilizes the entire glass.

The Stem

The stem is the most crucial portion of the glass when it comes to holding a wine glass. Not every wine glass has a stem. Some wine glasses are stemless and are more commonly used for convenience and are better suited to red wine than white wine. This is because the temperature of your hands influences the temperature of the wine. White wines are typically served chilled, although red wines can be served at any temperature and may even benefit from it.

The Bowl

The bowl, often known as the goblet, is the portion of the wine glass that holds the drink. The bowl of red wine glasses is wider, while the bowl of white wine glasses is narrower. Because red wine is generally swirled, the bigger bowl helps prevent spills. The goal of swirling is to release the red wine's scent into the air.

How to Hold a Wine Glass With a Stem?

The stem is the most crucial part when it comes to holding a wine glass. The basic guideline when holding a stemmed wine glass is to pinch the stem between your thumb and forefingers. First, with your thumb facing you, place it near the middle of the stem. Place your index, middle, and ring fingers on the opposite side of the stem and hold them there. For added support, place your pinkie against the base of the glass.

The stemmed holding technique provides several advantages. For starters, it keeps the wine as cool as possible. Although the human body is normally about 98.6 degrees, most wines are best served at 65 degrees (room temperature). White and rosé wines should be served chilled, between 40 and 65 degrees.
One of the reasons why wine storage temperatures are so low is because the colder temperatures allow the wine's nuanced flavours and sugar to be at the right levels, allowing them to separate easily rather than being mixed together in a warm environment.

Also, it provides a wide range of stability when holding the glass and makes it easy to set down. Holding a wine glass by the base is far more difficult to control while holding it by the bowl underhand warms it up too rapidly.

At last, especially if you aren't seated, it allows you to swirl your wine. Wine swirling is necessary to release the hundreds of fragrances that each wine has. You'll need a solid yet agile grasp to swirl your glass without sitting at a table, and stem holding is the way to go.

How to Hold a Stemless Wine Glass?

It doesn't mean you can't drink your favourite wine just because you don't have a stemmed glass. Tumblers, or stemless wine glasses, are also suitable for drinking. So, how do you hold them?
You must take a different approach while drinking from a stemless wine glass. To begin, practice your grasp while the glass is still on the table. You'll want to make sure the glass isn't too big for your palm or particular grip. Place your dominant hand around the glass's edge to get a sense of where you'd pick it up naturally.

Second, hold the glass between the bottom and the centre. You don't want to put your hand too close to the bottom of the glass since it will warm the wine too quickly. However, you don't want it to be too high on the glass, as this may cause the glass to slip out of your grip. You should practice your grip a few times until you feel comfortable with it.

Wine Glass Etiquette Tips

Your wine drinking experience will be greatly influenced by how you hold your wine glass. Knowing how to store wine correctly will help you have a successful experience.

You should also be aware of certain additional etiquette guidelines that can help you enjoy your wine.

Rest Your Wine Glass

It's not necessary to keep your wine glass in one hand the entire time. It's totally fine to take a break. If you need to rest the glass between sips of wine and don't have access to a table, you can rest the base of the glass on the palm of your non-dominant hand while your dominant hand continues to grasp the stem.

Sip From the Same Spot

The appearance and aroma of the wine can actually improve when you sip from the same area on the glass. The obvious reason for this is that it will leave fewer smudges and prints on your lips, resulting in a cleaner-looking glass.

Excessive touch might mess with the wine's aroma, and as scent and taste are linked to some extent, the taste of your wine will be altered as well, which is another reason to drink in the same place.

Keep Your Wine Glass Partially Full

The risk of spilling is reduced by merely partially filling your wine glass. When a glass is overfilled, your grip weakens because you are just holding it by the stem with a few fingers, causing the glass to slip. The glass for red wine should be a third full, whereas white wine can be half full. Champagne and sparkling wine glasses can be filled up to three-quarters full.

Wine drinking is an all-encompassing experience. When you drink wine, your senses of smell, sight, taste, and touch are all engaged. Choosing the perfect wine glass and holding it properly are both crucial components of ensuring a positive experience. The temperature of the wine and how you drink it will be affected by how you hold your wine glass, whether it has a stem or not. How to hold a wine glass elegantly and properly can take some practice if you're not used to it, so experiment with different approaches to determine what works best for you.

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