Posts Tagged ‘goblet’
Why Is That We Only Really Drink Wine Out Of Glasses
The amount of wine made every year is simply staggering. It has been enjoyed all over the world for thousands of years and the cup of choice is almost always the glass. Have you ever asked yourself though, why from a glass? Why not from a mug, plastic cup or wooden goblet? The answer is unfortunately not that simple. Actually, wine is enjoyed from a number of different containers, other than glass, in many different places. For example, wooden cups are used in Thailand and in Japan they often drink their wine from a ceramic vase-like cup. However, the overriding choice of tableware drinking vessel, wherever you go, is glass. As it happens this is not down to glass being particularly excellent, rather the alternatives being really just not that suitable. Let take a look at them shall we.
Wood. As mentioned previously, wine is drunk from wooden cups in some places but it does have some major flaws. Firstly, if you are drinking red wine there is a high chance the wood will stain. Even if the wood is of a very high quality, staining will happen. Secondly, there is the issue of rotting, which frequency happens when wood gets wet for a long time. So every time it gets used, it would need to be dried pretty well.
Metal. If you have ever drunk wine from a metal cup you will know it’s not the best experience ever. Metals have a lot of ions and with a lot of wines, something called displacement can occur. This means that when the wine comes into contact with the metal it absorbs a number of the ions and effects the flavour. This is why you often pick up metallic notes when drink from this type of cup. Also, because of its very heat-conductive qualities, almost any other material would keep the wine cooler when you’re holding it
Ceramic. Like glass, ceramic is non porous, does not release any of its qualities into the wine, and can be easily cleaned with a glass cloth. This is why it is a popular alternative, but there is one very simple reason that it has not been embraced in the same way as glass – It is not transparent. A large part of the experience of enjoying a fine wine is watching it swirl around the glass, admiring its body. Since glass was first developed, we have had the very simple and instinctive desire for this.