Many things relating to wine involve an intricate balance between art and science. Marrying the calculated scientific approach with an intuitive feel is crucial for those who have come to appreciate the wine side of life. The shape and size of glasses are no different. Every style of wine matches a different type of glass whilst the same wine will taste different depending from which type of glass you drink it. There is a science behind it all which focuses on the effect of the shape of the glass on the aroma and where the wine will land on your tongue. A specific glass will concentrate flavour and aroma to accentuate varietal characteristics thus matching the correct glass to the correct grape is crucial. 

The glass is made up of three parts: the bowl, the stem and the foot. It is important to hold the glass by the stem to prevent body heat from affecting the temperature of the wine. However the focus is predominantly on the shape and size of the bowl. Bowls have increased in size where the extra capacity is devoted to still air space which traps the wines bouquet. One should not fill the glass by more than a third in order to enable a good swirl. Swirling breaks the surface tension of the liquid allowing aromas to be released. Swirling the wine also serves to oxidate it, helping it to open up and show its full characteristics. As oxygen from the air chemically interacts with the wine, flavor and aroma are subtly altered. This process of oxidation is generally more compatible with red wines, whose complex flavors are smoothed out after being exposed to air. 

There is a reason why we swirl, sniff and then sip as your senses of smell and taste are closely linked. The way we smell dictates how we taste. You can’t taste properly with a blocked sinus thus the intensity and quality of the aroma of a wine will affect the taste. The general shape has changed from an open trumpet shape to a tapered tulip shape in an effort to concentrate and direct the aromas toward the nose. 

The shape of a glass dictates how a person positions their head when drinking and thus how the wine flows into their mouth and where it lands on your tongue. With different taste zones on your tongue the correct shaped glass will direct a specific wine to the area on your tongue which best suits it.

Wine glasses can be made up from blown glass, crystal or lead crystal. Glass lacks a crystalline structure and will eventually change shape over a long enough period of time. Crystal is also rougher than glass on a microscopic level, allowing wine in the glass to breathe more efficiently when swirled in the bowl. Lead crystal has a higher index of refraction which changes the effect of light passing through it. The advantage of crystal glasses can be illustrated by considering the five senses:

• Sight: The clarity of crystal exhibits the wine better
• Touch: It holds the wine better, being denser and thus harder
• Hear: It sounds better when you ‘clink’ it
• Smell: There is no lip on crystal glasses which allows the aroma’s to travel freely out of the glass
• Taste: Wine tastes better out of a crystal glass

Drinking a wine from the correctly shaped glass will enhance its bouquet and taste. Try it for yourself and see how wine will change from glass to glass.