We’ve seen multiple variations on how to hold a wine glass, everything from grasping the tumbler to using two fingers to hold the stem (with one pinky left dangling off the side, of course) to resting the base of the glass in your palm. In terms of stemware, the stem probably causes the most confusion. Where to hold?
To answer this question, you must first understand why you might hold in a certain way: the goal is to preserve the wine’s optimal temperature, which is 55 degrees. Wrapping your hand around the tumbler will cause the wine to warm, eventually. And it can age slightly when doing so. While that can help warm up a colder red, you can see it poses a serious problem for white wine, which we prefer chilled (often even colder than the recommended 55 degrees). So, that’s basically it: if you have chilled wine, try not to hug the tumbler too much, for risk of warming up your wine. However, if you’re setting it down between sips, there is no real reason not to grab it by its tumbler. In fact, considering the rise in popularly of stem-less wine glasses only confirms that holding wine by the tumbler is not “low class” or “not done.”
[One caveat: it is easier to swirl the wine and inspect it for impurities when you hold it by the stem. You can tip it forward, slosh it around, and check out the color and any sediment by doing so. This is harder to do gracefully if you’re holding the tumbler.]
What’s the answer, then? Do what feels comfortable—there is no one right way to hold your wine glass. And, do what feels natural to you. That’s what matters.
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| Holding by the base makes it harder to drink, but is a common technique. |
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| The party grip. (Also, the easiest grip.) |
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| The best grip if you want to warm red wine. |
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| Sometimes, you only have one option. |
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| A common way to hold the glass. |
Very interesting. I had never thought about why we hold the glass the way we do, or even why a wine glass has a stem. I thought it was merely to be fancy!
ReplyDeleteExcellent and useful article! Thanks for taking the time to post this.
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ReplyDeleteI attended a wine event recently where the winery's marketing director dropped a couple of names....and hints.... informing me casually that when last he visited the Mondavi home, and when last he dropped in on Francis Ford Coppola, he was gently corrected, and redirected to hold his wine glass, "base in palm", as pictured above. I too learned that the method relates to the wine temp, and what you are trying to accomplish with regard to this (warming an overly chilled red.... maintaining the chill of a white....), so I'm not certain I'm buying into Robert and Francis' methodolgoy.
ReplyDeleteWe have a hard time believing either the Mondavi's or the Coppola's would even comment on that, unless specifically asked. Regardless, both those top names are allowed to have their preference, of course. Doesn't make it "law."
DeleteMany people think that you should have that famous "pop" when opening your sparkler, the truth is that it is really a faux pas. The cork should not pop.
ReplyDeleteStemless Flutes
Well said. The "pop" is more about the fanfare and can be fun! But, yes, completely unnecessary.
DeleteTasting areas is usually crowded in weekends. Weekdays are generally slow and also wines owners have an overabundance of time to talk about the stemless wine glasses you taste. In any event, if the sampling space is usually chaotic, will not shoulder on your path towards sampling bar.
ReplyDeletegood info thanks
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