Have a seat. We have something pretty serious to tell you.
While we recommend you to hold on to what keeps you warm inside, it is crucial not to warm the wine, while holding it.
A wine glass highly influences the wine’s taste and aromas. It is however, of vital importance not to “hold it against it”. No matter how hard it is to hear, lots of us hold our wine glasses, the wrong way. This translates to holding the wine glass by the bowl and not by its stem.
The reasons which make the above action a “faux-pas” or even a taboo, are as practical as they are polite.
First things first: Unless we want to enjoy it mulled, we should prevent the body heat from our hands transfer to our wine, as it alters its taste and aromatics.
Leaving fingerprints on a nicely polished crystal-clear glass automatically makes the process of wine enjoymen, less elegant. We surely do not want this to happen. It also makes it harder for us to examine the colour and clarity of the wine.
Personally with red-wine-stained cute-yet-destroyed tops, swirling a glass of wine is much easier when we hold it from its stem opposed to the goblet. Even though some may describe it pretentious, swirling the wine can be the key to unlocking its flavours and allowing for an appreciation of the wine’s “nose” making the swirling process a mandatory pleasure!
+1 reason: by holding a wine glass by the stem, you avoid smelling any odours that may come along with your hand (hand lotion, perfume etc), while taking a sip.
See you next week!
Cheers, Santé and Yiamas…
Until then.. Strike for a glass half full !
Nicole x
