by Carol Larsson

Created on: April 06, 2010

Which wine glasses do I use?   Where do they go when I am setting the table?

These are the questions you my find yourself asking when you are entertaining at home.

Before you can choose which glasses to use, you will have to know what wine you will be serving.

The number of different wines you will serve will vary; it will depend on how formal the dinner party will be and how many courses you are going to serve.

Will you serve a different wine with each course?

Unless you are hosting a very formal dinner party, serving a different wine with each item on your menu my seam a little pretentious.

As we are all a lot less formal nowadays, wine is seen as something we can all enjoy. Wine is not now, something that is intimidating and surrounded by strict rules.

The most important thing to remember when choosing wine to go with food is that the wine should enhance and not detract from the flavor of the food. The wine is there to compliment the food not compete with it.

There is no need to only drink white wine with fish or poultry and only red wine with red meat or game.

If you were giving an informal dinner for friends, the easiest thing to do would be to serve both red and white wine and let your guests choose which they prefer.

Types of wine glasses.

There are so many types of wine glass made now, burgundy, Bordeaux, Riesling in fact a glass for nearly every type and variety of wine. There is really no need to have so many different glasses.

What you do need for most entertaining are;

Champagne Flutes:
Champagne flutes are long stemmed glasses with a tall slender bowl. They are designed to enhance not just the bubbles in the Champagne but also the aroma and the flavor.

Red wine glass:
Red wine glasses are long stemmed with a bulbous wide bowl.

White wine glass:
White wine glasses have a long stems and a slightly narrower bowl than a red wine glass.

The only other types of glasses you will defiantly need are water glasses. Choose a simple attractive glass with either no stem or a short stem.

The glasses should be thoroughly clean and sparkling.

When you lay the table, the glasses go to the right of the knife blades and towards their tip. The smallest of the glasses goes nearest the knives, with the others close by in a straight line or you have can have three in a triangle, or four in a squire.

I think a triangular arrangement of glasses looks most attractive.

When serving the wine, the wine glass should only be about a third full.
It is always better to under fill a glass than to overfill it. Remember if you are the host, it is your duty to pour the wine.

When holding your glass always hold by the stem. You want to neither warm the wine with the heat from your hand nor leave unsightly finger marks all over the bowl of the glass.

However, remember as with all matters of etiquette and good manners, the important thing is for your guests to feel relaxed and at ease.

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