Difference Between Red and White Wine Glasses

Red vs White Wine Glasses

Non-wine drinkers usually disregard the impact of using different types of wine glasses in drinking the beverage as it does not have a direct effect on the wine’s original aroma and flavor they say. Well, authentic wine connoisseurs tend to disagree. In as much as there are many general kinds of wine glasses (red, white, champagne flutes, champagne saucers, stemless, and Bordeaux glasses), two of which stand out above the rest – the red and white wine glasses.
Basically, the red wine glass has a wider bowl and shorter stem as compared to its white counterpart. By contrast, the latter appears a little taller because of its longer stem. It also has a narrower bowl.

Red wine glasses aren’t merely designed for show. They were made as such because of several minute yet very important reasons. First, the wide bowl of the red wine allows for better air exposure of the wine. The air needs to counteract with the chemicals of the red wine so as it make it richer and more flavorful. It also has an intricate lip taper at the bowl that facilitates better delivery of the wine to the appropriate parts of the drinker’s mouth (sides and back of the tongue). The shorter stem is so designed because using the red wine glass does not really dictate that the drinker hold it from the stem or from the bowl. Even if the drinker holds from the bowl of the glass when drinking, the heat of his hands doesn’t really do anything to the taste or aroma of the wine for this particular situation, that is.

For the white wine glass, it is designed in such an elegant fashion so that the person drinking out of it will not have any trouble holding the glass by its stem. In connection with heat transfer, holding the white wine glass from the bowl will now have some adverse effects on the overall flavor of the wine when the warmth of the hand transfers heat through the thin layer of glass. That’s why it is ideally held from its stem. With regard to the size of the bowl, the narrower bowl size is designed as such because aeration is not required for white wine compared to red wines. In comparison to red wine glasses, the white wine glass has its slightly nuanced lip designed to allow easier flow of the white wine towards the front area inside the mouth.

Summary:

1.The red wine glass is shorter and has a wider bowl compared to the white wine glass.
2.The red wine glass is specially made for red wine while the white wine glass is for white wine.
3.The white wine glass is said to be more elegant than the red wine glass because of its longer stem.
4.The white wine glass is meant to be held by the drinker from its stem.
5.The red wine glass has a wider bowl size for aerating the red wine.

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