Home and Garden Chatter

Do Different Shaped Wine Glasses Really Make A Difference?

Recently I was reading about different types of wine glasses and their uses, the article in question was talking about how white wine glasses are generally taller and are a generally more slender shape, with a smaller opening, while red wine glasses are more rounded in shape and have a larger opening from which to drink.

The theory behind all this was that white wine is consumed when chilled, therefore to ensure it remains chilled, minimum contact with the hand (and its bodily heat) and the air itself, is the most ideal situation. Conversely red wine is consumed at room temperature, and tastes best when the heat from the hand rises through the glass and there is a great deal of air circulation happening.

Now, I’m not a wine expert, and I’m sure to people who are wine experts, perhaps this makes a lot of difference, but my question is how many people are actually skilled and qualified enough to be able to tell?

At a guess I would say a relatively small number, which begs the question – is the market for these types of glasses justified if the consumers do not require the product?

The average wine drinking person in the UK is no connoisseur, yet thousands of people seem too invest in these designer wine glasses and tableware. Once again it seems that people are striving to purchase products to re-enforce their exclusive ‘image’ rather than for the actual purpose the product was intended for.

So at what point does our consumption of products that we don’t need actually stop?