Why Is That We Only Really Drink Wine Out Of Glasses

There is something universally appreciated about wine. People drink it on every continent and more often than not, from a glass. Have you ever asked yourself though, why from a glass? Why not from a mug, wooden goblet or plastic cup? The answer is unfortunately not that simple. You will find in fact a number of different alternative materials used in various countries that wine is drunk from. For example in Japan, wine is drunk from a ceramic vase-shaped container and in Thailand, wooden cups are often used. 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 stated earlier, wooden cups are used to drink wine from in some countries, however there are some major draw backs. First off, the wood often gets stained in you choose to drink red wine from it. Even if the wood is of a very high quality, staining will happen. further more, rotting can often take place in the wood if it has liquid on it for a while. So every time it gets used, it would need to be dried pretty well.

Metal. If you’ve ever used a metal vessel to consume wine from, you’ll understand how the flavour is not quite right. Metals have a large number of things called ions, and when most wines come into contact with it ‘displacement’ can happen. This essentially means that often a number of the metal’s ions displace into the wine and this causes an alteration in 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. Admiring a wine’s colours and depth is a major part of any wine drinking experience. The desire is a very instinctive one and something that has been around since the development of glass.