Wine Glass

10-14 oz

All-purpose stemmed glass with a tapered bowl that concentrates aromatics — used for wine-based cocktails and spritzes.

History

Origin

Wine glasses evolved from ancient Roman glass vessels, but the modern stemmed wine glass with a tapered bowl emerged in Venice around the 15th century. Murano glassmakers developed increasingly refined forms as wine culture demanded vessels that could showcase color, concentrate aroma, and direct wine to specific parts of the palate. The stem was a Venetian innovation — keeping oily fingerprints off the bowl and warmth away from the wine.

Evolution

Austrian glassmaker Claus Riedel revolutionized wine glasses in 1973 with his Sommeliers series, arguing that different wines needed different glass shapes. This spawned an entire industry of varietal-specific glasses. For cocktail use, the all-purpose wine glass (a medium bowl between red and white sizes) became standard for spritzes and wine-based cocktails in the 2010s, particularly as Aperol Spritz culture spread from Italy globally.

Why This Shape

The tapered bowl concentrates volatile aromatic compounds at the rim, where the nose meets the glass during a sip. The wider belly allows swirling, which increases the liquid's surface area and releases aromatics. For cocktails, the wine glass's generous capacity accommodates ice, garnishes, and a higher mixer ratio while the stem prevents hand warmth from affecting temperature.

Fun Fact

Georg Riedel (Claus's son) once conducted blind tastings proving that the same wine tasted measurably different from different glass shapes — even to skeptical sommeliers. The experiment was replicated at Oxford University with identical results.