Guide to Wine Glasses

The origins of the wine glass cannot be fully appreciated without a look at what began in Venice, Italy. Around 1000 AD, the Venetians brought back the knowledge of glass making from the Near East and by the thirteenth-century, Venice had become the center of the glass universe. On the nearby island of Murano, glassmakers were the most prominent citizens and it was here that the Venetian art form was perfected. By the late 1500’s, the fame of Venetian glass had spread throughout Europe and many Venetians established themselves in foreign countries utilizing the techniques their people had perfected.

The earliest surviving English wine glasses are diamond-engraved glasses produced near the late 1500’s by Jacopo Verzelini, a Venetian glass maker who was given a royal privilege for glass making in 1575. The façon de Venise (Venetian Fashion) was an extremely important selling line in European glasshouses. By the end of the seventeenth-century the prestige of Venetian glass had declined but not before an entire industry had been created. Every country had begun producing their own versions of glasses in the Venetian style.

Successful glassmakers required a lot of wood in order to heat up and melt their glass. As a result, many migrated to forested areas like that of northern Bohemia where Johann Christoph Riedel was born in 1678. This was a favorable area for glassmaking and where he learned the trade. The Riedel name is now synonymous with fine glassware. The company has been a family run business through 11 generations.

Plain straight stems gained popularity around 1740, with air twist stems being introduced about the same time. Ten years later, a twist incised on the exterior of the stem became popular. Quality crystal wine glasses were being produced in France near the end of the eighteenth-century. Cordial glasses in the eighteenth-century had bowls of the same shapes that were typical for wine glasses, but they were much smaller, holding about one ounce. 

Toastmaster’s glasses were made with a thicker bottom and walls so that they would hold less. A toastmaster had to drain every glass and still be able to remain standing till all toasts were completed. Wine glasses during the nineteenth-century were often produced in sets – with a dozen each of port and sherry, burgundy and claret, champagne glasses and liqueur glasses.

The second half of the twentieth-century brought the advent of specifically shaped glasses for every variety of wine. In 1973, Riedel introduced their hand-made Sommelier series of ten different sizes of glasses which has since expanded into an all-embracing, state-of-the-art wine glass collection. The future of the wine glass looks clear – the nuances of the world’s wines can be appreciated and enjoyed like no other time in history.

As long as there has been wine there has been a way to hold it. A wide variety of vessels have been used over the many centuries it took for the wine glass to evolve.

The history of wine glasses begins with the discovery and production of the world’s first glass materials. Types of glass, like Obsidian, occur naturally in nature and have been used as tools since the Stone Age. Glass production for things like jewelry started in the third millennium BC in Egypt. However, it was not until the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC) that we see the first evidence of glass hollowware. There are several formulas for making glass contained in the clay-tablet library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC). Remarkably, the recipes recoded contain basically the same ingredients that glass is made from today, but in different ratios.

In his Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) describes the composition and manufacture of glass which during his time, were as expensive as precious metals in the Roman Empire. He believed that glass was the preferred vessel for drinking wine, however the time required to produce it made drinking wine from glasses too expensive and impractical.

In the meantime, on the heels of the bronze age, the Romans used goblets made of lead, silver, or pottery. The technology of drink-ware evolved immensely during this time and there were many alternative materials to glass that were used in different parts of the world.

The Roman-Britons of the 5th Century created a shallow cup on a tall stem called a Cylix. Other types of Cylices were more functional with thicker stems or wider bowls. Earthenware vessels were made for common use. Horn Flagons were used for communion by the church until AD 785 when they were forbidden. The church then moved to wooden chalices and then silver and gold over the next 400 years. Wood tankards were in common use in households and taverns by the end of the first millennium and were made of wood that was bound together with wattle or hide and came complete with a handle and a lid.

Leather vessels known as ‘Black Jacks’ became popular in the 14th Century. They consisted of pieces of leather sewn together to form the shape of a jug and handle. The first part of the name comes from the black pitch that was used on the inside of the jug to seal it. The latter part of the name derives from the leather used to make the vessel. The material was similar to the leather vests that archers used as light armor known as a ‘jack of defense’.

The wine glass was well on its way. As the methods for glass making improved, costs diminished and the glass became the vessel of choice. By the 1400’s, we see the first examples of wine glasses with a base, a stem, and a foot.

Choosing wine glasses that will compliment your wine is very important. The importance of the glass begins with the fact that this is the way the wine is presented. Wine is one of the finer things in life and should be presented as such. Besides getting that great clinking sound when we raise our glasses, we also choose a glass because we want to see the wine. Putting your Chardonnay in a thermos, while equally refreshing, would hide the beauty of what it looks like, not to mention affect the taste and smell, masking all of the things we could glean from it. A clean, clear glass allows us to inspect the color and clarity of the wine, which is very helpful when trying to understand how the wine has aged and it’s other properties. All too often, it is also the way we discover if the waiter has got some sediment or even bits of cork in there.

One of the most important things to consider when choosing the right glass for your wine is its shape. The shape of the glass determines how the wine will be exposed to the air and begin oxidization. One of the most amazing things about wine is how it changes over time. Not only does it age slowly in the bottle over many years, but it ‘ages’ very quickly once it is exposed to the air. There are countless variables that affect the final look, taste, and smell of a wine including: soil, rainfall, sunlight, age of the vines, aeration, length of growing season, insects, transportation, and storage conditions just to name a few. All of these variables leave their mark upon the wine and are stored its unique chemical makeup, waiting to be discovered upon opening. Winemakers do their best to control these variables in and effort to produce the best wine possible, but there are so many that cannot be controlled. The glass you choose to present your wine in is one of the last variables in a long line of factors that will affect how much you will enjoy it and this is a variable we can control. The food you pair it with and how you taste it are the last two, although some would say that the company you’re with can make or break it too!

So, do your research, ask questions, and learn. This is not just wine snobbery for the sake of impressing one another. It is a simple thing that can really enhance your experience and enjoyment of wine, not to mention your meal.

Cheers (clink)