One of the latest trends in wine glasses has been the move to stemless glasses. These glasses are the same as traditional wine glasses, but without the stem and base that you’re normally used to. They offer a more modern look and feel and are less likely to spill over as their center of gravity has been lowered due to the removal of the stem.
Stemless wine glasses hold the same amount of wine as a traditional glass and can be found in all different shapes to accommodate different types of wine. You can find stemless wine glasses that mirror the bowl shape of any stemmed wine glass available, it really is just the removal of the stem that makes it different.
Choosing a stemless or a stemmed wine glass is a matter of personal taste, but there are some good reasons why you should use a wine glass with a stem.
Reasons to Use a Wine Glass with a Stem
While using a stemmed vs a stemless wine glass ultimately comes down to personal preference, using a traditional stemmed wine glass may help you enjoy your wine longer.
Wine Glass Stem Helps Keep Wine Cool
When drinking wine that is meant to stay cool, you want to do everything you can to prevent the temperature from rising too much. The rising temperature can make the wine start to taste bad and could ruin the experience. This is why it’s important to have a wine chiller or to keep your wine in a fridge before serving.
When serving your cold wine, a stemmed glass will allow you to hold it from the stem and will prevent your natural body heat from increasing the temperature of the wine.
If you hold it from the bowl, or if you’re using a stemless wine glass, then the heat from your hand can cause the wine to heat up faster than it would normally.
While there’s nothing wrong with drinking wine as it begins to warm up, if it warms up too much it can cause the wine to start to taste different. Certain wines are meant to be drank at certain temperatures so by holding the wine glass from the stem, you’re preventing the wine from warming up.
Aerating the Wine
Another benefit of holding a wine glass by the stem is that you can more easily aerate the wine by swirling it around in the bowl.
Yes, you can create the same effect using a stemless wine glass, but the stem provides the perfect angle and support for swirling the wine without having to move your entire hand and wrist. With the bowl of the glass further away from your hand, you’re able to swirl the wine around more elegantly and effortlessly in the glass which allows for the wine to aerate more than if the wine were just sitting in the glass.
Stemmed wine glasses may be slowly going out of style as the new modern stemless glassware make their way into more homes and restaurants, but the benefits of having a stemmed wine glass may make you change your mind before upgrading. A stemmed wine glass offers a more classic, traditional, look when sipping on an incredible glass of wine, and even offers some benefits that you can’t get out of a stemless wine glass. Depending on how often you drink wine, or how often you entertain and serve wine, you may want to reconsider before you replace your traditional wine glasses with stemless ones.