Why You Should Hold a Wine Glass by the Stem
It Keeps Your Hands From Warming the Wine
If you hold the bowl of your wine glass the way that you are forced to with a stemless wine glass, your hand inevitably begins to transfer the warmth from your body and will cause your wine to start to warm. This warmth changes the taste of your wine as well as the aromas that you will be able to pick up. To avoid this, you always hold your glass by the stem. The long thin stem will make sure that your hand’s heat doesn’t transfer up into the bowl.
It Keeps Fingerprints off of the Bowl
Wine glasses are made thin with an emphasis on clarity because the visual aspect of your wine is a big part of enjoying it. An easy way to disrupt the view of your wine is to get fingerprints on the bowl. This is one reason you will always see fine wine being poured into a glass with a stem.
It Allows You To See Through the Wine
The second reason that you will see fine wines being poured into a stemmed glass is so that you can hold it up to the light and see through the wine without your hand interfering with your view. When holding it by the stem, the light can travel through the wine, accentuating all of the colors.
Makes Swirling Easier
Holding the stem gives a good center point by which to swirl the glass, allowing you to easily aerate the wine and get a good view of the legs.
Why Do Some Wine Glasses Have Longer Stems?
Longer Stems Transfer Less Heat
The longer the stem on the glass, the less heat it will transfer up to the bowl. You will notice that red wine glasses usually have shorter stems because red wine can sometimes benefit from a bit of warmth. However, white wines and champagnes need to stay cold, so they can benefit from an extra-long stem.
Longer Stems Look More Elegant
A long stem isn’t always added for function; sometimes, a wine glass will have a long stem to add to the design design and display craftsmanship.
