Stemware for the New Year

It’s the New Year – full of fresh promises and great flavors. Start the year off with your glass half full – with Whitehall Lane wine, of course. The right wine glass is absolutely essential to your tasting experiences – it allows the aroma and flavor profiles to emerge, and directs each flavor of wine to precise regions of the tongue.

Here’s our guide to the top must-have stemware pieces for the year.

Red Wine

A good red wine brings together most meals, and the right stemware allows you to enjoy it to its fullest. Look for glasses with bowls larger than 20 ounces. These will help to bring out the aroma of your reds. We recommend stemmed glassware, so your hands don’t cause the wine to warm through transference of heat or smudge the glass.

Heavy, full-bodied reds, like Whitehall Lane’s Napa Valley Merlot, or Leonardini Estate Cabernet Sauvignon are best enjoyed in Bordeaux glasses. Bordeaux glasses are tall, so the wine hits the center and back of your tongue, creating a complex texture.

Burgundy glasses create an ideal tasting experience for lighter, full-bodied reds, like our Las Brisas Vineyard Pinot Noir. Burgundy glasses have the widest bowl and a narrow center, which allows the aroma to oxygenate, accumulate, and release. The wide lip of these glasses directs the wine to the tip of the tongue, so you can taste the delicate sweetness of these varieties.

White Wine

White wine glass bowls are usually skinnier and more u-shaped than red bowls. This shape keeps your white cool and enables the release of aromas. Additionally, their stems are usually longer than their red counterparts.

Tulip glasses have a wide bowl, with a mouth that tapers to reduce oxidization. Chardonnays, like our Carneros Chardonnay, have a long stem to keep your wine cooled. For whites with fresh, light aromas, like our Sauvignon Blanc, look for even narrower bowls that will preserve their crisp flavor.

Dessert Wines

Dessert wines, like our Belmuscato or Belforte typically have higher alcohol content, and are sweeter than many varieties. For these, you’ll want skinny bowls with tapered mouths and tall stems. The size of the bowl and stem allow the alcohol to hit the back of your mouth, so the sweetness doesn’t overwhelm.