Riedel introduced the first varietal-specific wine glass in 1958, and the drinking world hasn’t been the same ever since. Even a neophyte oenophile must wonder: Am I shortchanging my modest cave if my cupboard isn’t stocked with universals, different glasses for red and white wines, a set of Champagne flutes and maybe some Burgundy, Bordeaux and Chardonnay glasses?
We spoke to experts in the wine industry to better understand what varietal-specific glassware actually does for the wines poured inside, if they’re necessary if you’ve already got a nice set of universal glasses and who, precisely, should be shelling out for three different types of red wine glasses.
What Is a Varietal-Specific Glass and What Does it Do?
Before we get to the vagaries of that Viognier glass, let’s first establish the broad differences between varietal-specific glasses.
You might already be familiar with the most basic varietal-specific vessels: red and white wine glasses. But varietal-specific glassware isn’t just for wine. The category also includes Sherry copitas, tequila glasses, Brandy snifters and more. Beer is another beverage that has style-specific glassware, from Pilsner mugs to tall and slender stanges for Kölsch. But varietal-specific wine glasses wind up being among the most common.
The idea behind varietal-specific glassware is that by focusing on the essential characteristics of a wine–its acidity, its tannins and how it smells or looks—and designing a glass to heighten those qualities, you get a better drinking experience.
The argument is that a single wine glass cannot at once concentrate the fresh, mineral aromas of a Muscadet and offer the kind of bowl space and rim diameter needed to allow a big Australian Shiraz to develop.
The Anatomy of a Varietal-Specific Wine Glass
Wine glass makers have a variety of design levers to pull as they close in on the ideal shape to show a particular varietal.
They’ll alter the glass’s silhouette, height and width of the bowl, the length of the stem and shape and proportion of the rim. Often, it’s a game of millimeters as they fine-tune glasses with an extra contour here and a bit more girth there.
A Pinot Noir glass may have a flared lip, a Champagne glass may be a classic flute to maximize the fizz or something closer to a white wine glass to express the aromatics. Or you may get the oddly lumpy cocoon-shaped glass, which looks like nothing so much as an elegant gent with incipient love handles.
The main conceit involves balancing aeration (meaning oxygen contacting the wine) and preservation (meaning retaining crisp aromas).
Designwise, glasses for red wines tend to be larger, with a bigger bowl and wider opening. These features help “bring the wine into contact with more oxygen, which can soften tannins and develop aromas,” says one Oregon sommelier.
Glasses for white wines tend to have a smaller opening at the top, which concentrates aromas in the glass thereby enhancing them. They often have a longer stem, which offers more distance from the drinker's hand to keep the temperature down. The less surface area of the wine that touches the air, the slower it warms up.
These features allow each type of wine to present its best qualities, something a universal glass may not achieve as successfully.
For example, one senior winemaker and general manager at a winery in Napa Valley, likes to use a Riedel Veloce Chardonnay glass for their famed wine.
“Our Chardonnay has bright and crisp notes of fresh green apple, lemon, white peach and melon, and we want those characteristics to be on full display,” he says. “If you select too large of a glass, you aren’t preserving the wine’s delicate aromas and flavors. Go for a smaller, narrower bowl that will allow the fresh, mineral characters to shine through.”
How to Choose and Use a Varietal-Specific Glass
Varietal-specific glassware isn’t as cut and dry as pouring white wines into one style of glass and reds into another. There’s an art to these pairings. The right glass for a specific wine has to do more with the qualities of the wine you’re drinking than how the glass is marketed.
A Burgundy glass is not just for wines from Burgundy. Here’s what the giants of craft glassware suggest you drink from the Burgundy glass: Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch, Syrah and Nebbiolo (Barolo or Barbaresco) as well as Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner and Sauvignon Blanc.
This list reads surprisingly broad for a varietal-specific glass, no? Which introduces some understandable confusion in the wine-drinking public. Does every wine need to be sipped from a specific glass?
The character of the wine should determine the shape, size and style of the glass.
Some wine glasses are named for wine growing regions–Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne—but shouldn’t limit how you drink from them. The names signal that they are good for a general style, character and range of varietal, but the name of the glass should not determine which wine you pour into it.
A wide bowl exposes more surface area of the wine within it to air while the sharper angle of the sides traps the air and the aromas. This is perfect for wines that are elegant, that have complexity in their expression, but are less extracted and tannic. So the tighter ‘funnel’ focuses the subtlety that might otherwise get lost.
The Bordeaux vs. Pinot Noir Glass
Two of the common varietal-specific glasses you might encounter are Bordeauxs and Pinot Noirs.
Mariano Garay, wine director at a New York restaurant, says, “Bordeaux grapes are higher in tannins so they benefit from a broader bowl with a tulip rim, while Pinot Noir, being more delicate and higher in acidity, doesn’t need as much oxygen but rather more of a narrow rim to help you distinguish the complex aromas and flavors."
We should note that Bordeaux glasses can be pressed into service for a variety of varietals, showing other reds as diverse as Brunello, Tempranillo, Sangiovese, Rioja, Merlot, Shiraz and the Cabs (Franc and Sauvignon).
The Bordeaux glass, often larger and taller, brings the wine into contact with more oxygen, which can soften tannins and develop aromas. These attributes are perfect for the robust structure and body of wines from Bordeaux.
As for the Pinot Noir glass, a senior winemaker and general manager at a winery in California says that you want a glass that captures the “delicate aromas and balances the acidity, with a wider bowl that provides enough space for the wine to breathe.”
Great! But Do I Really Need all These Glasses?
Do you need six different types of wine glass? Do you need ten pairs of sneakers? How you answer that second question probably determines how you’ll answer the first (and yes, between running, tennis, casual, flashy, neutral and mowing the lawn, I need ten at the barest minimum).
The wine enthusiast who might benefit from having a variety of glasses is someone who loves exploring the nuances of different wines and wants to experience them at their best.
