Stemware is drink-ware that stands on stems above a base.  Stemware is most often made from glass, but may also consist of ceramics or metals materials.

Stemware includes these glasses and their often decorated styles or variations:

• Brandy Snifters
• Chalices and Goblets
• Champagne flutes
• Cocktail glasses-Including martini glasses and margarita glasses
• Cordial glasses
• Wine glasses

For the sake of simplicity and relevance we are focusing this post on stemware related to the consumption of wine and champagne.

1 - Brandy Snifters are primarily used for after dinner drinks.  Brandy can be defined as Pomace brandy, Fruit Brandy, or Grape Brandy.  The brandy glass is also good for brandy, scotch and cognac.  Serve your Brandy without ice (neat)  or on the rocks .

When you are looking for a Brandy Snifter keep these points in mind:

• While resting in your hand it has excellent balance
• It has a large surface area for enhanced aroma and flavor
• The glass is crystal clear and silky smooth
• Durability for years of enjoyment

2 - A champagne coupe (or saucer) is a stemmed glass that is shaped like a saucer and is used for serving champagne.  It's not used so much now for serving champagne.  For awhile now it has lost its champagne serving appeal because the more broad surface of the rim allows the champagne to lose the bubbles (carbonation) too fast, unless you are the kind of person who doesn't need a glass and prefers the bottle anyway (use a glass bowl if this is you), this is more an appropriate choice for a daiquiris style of drink. If you prefer, you have the option of a white wine tulip glass, which has the shape of a tulip in that the rim is more narrow than the middle and it is closer to a champagne flute, but it is still considered a champagne coupe – without the disadvantage of a flute of ripping your back out from tipping the glass back for the last of your champagne.  Interesting enough, this glass is preferred for sparkling beers.

2a - A Champagne Flute is also a stem glass but the bowl is tall and narrow instead.  The design was created to play up the bubbles, aroma and flavour.  Weddings are symbolic celebrations for this glass style.

Keep these things in mind with a champagne flute or saucer:

• You can hold the glass stem without touching the beverage, this allows for zero fluctuation of your beverage temperatures.
• There is such a thing as too small a stem diameter.  Your goal is to carry the champagne glasses on a tray easily.
• Smoother surfaces let you enjoy the bubbles in your mouth, instead of in the glass.

Wine glasses:

3 - Red wine glasses have a wider, more round bowl.  The rounder bowl lets oxygen mingle with the wine to alter the flavour and aroma.  Yes, that is good – for oxidation to occur, because it allows you to appreciate your red wine experience more.  Red wine glasses can be either a Bordeaux glass, which has a broader bowl for the fuller bodied reds, or a Burgundy glass with an even more broad and larger bowl yet.

• Pick a Bordeaux glass that is tall, so that the wine travels down the slope of your glass and goes immediately to the back of your mouth and the base of your tongue. Generally speaking, you will want a glass large enough for the wine to breathe and for the fragrant aromas to mingle. Some people like a glass that is large enough for their nose to fit in while they sip their wine. For those people it is simply a matter of comfort.

• Pick a Burgundy glass that is also large as well, but has a shape more like a bowl. The cup will be more 'squat' and the wine has to travel a faster changing slope before arriving into your mouth and being deposited on the tip and sides of your tongue. This Burgundy bowl lets you appreciate the strong aromas while also focusing on the flavours of the brighter and lighter components of the wine.

3a – White Wine Glasses are as varied as butterflies.  They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  You'll notice that they are a designed with a smaller size and a bit of a closed shape so that the wine stays cool longer.  The surface area and volume ratio helps to minimize the contact of air between wine, making it cooler-longer.  The glass shape allows you to taste the wine on the sides and front of your mouth – where you'll experience the sweet or dryness of the wine.  Crisper wines are the result of a good white wine glass.  The wide mouth glasses promote a faster oxidization which alters the flavor of the wine.  A smaller mouthed glass reduces the surface area and therefore, the oxidation rate.  And for those sparkling wines, an yet smaller mouthed glass is used so that the wine is sparkling longer.  Now THAT'S A CELEBRATION!

If you really want to get into the swing of things, try to collect one set of each glassware that is relevant to your wine choices so that you can fully experience the exquisites tastes that accompany good stemware choices.

Now that you know what you are doing, can you identify these glasses?

Who hasn't had a stubborn cork!  If you are trying to get a cork out of a bottle that just will not cooperate then you may consider putting the bottle neck in hot water for ten seconds.  When the glass expands your cork becomes easier to remove.  Keep in mind that heat changes the flavour of wine-so no more than ten seconds and only the bottle neck!

Flavour and taste are completely dependent on the person, but in our experience, the meals that use foods that are cooked by grilling, roasting, broiling and baking are best cooked and served with oaked wines.  While meals that are steamed, poached, braised, or cooked in clear liquids work best with white wine or a red with a more subtle oak taste.  Again, I would emphasize to not become dependent on recipes and to explore your tastes.  Don't go cheap if you don't like the essence of cheap in your food, because although the alcohol is cooked away, the essence of the flavor of your wine choice stays.

If you have a light colored carpet and . . . oops . . . you spill your red wine on it then grab a bottle of white wine and pour it over the top of the red wine stain. The white against the red takes the red out. A professional carpet cleaner gave us that advice and it works!  It has to do with the acid content, which is why citrus based removers work.  Also, a mixture of lemon juice and white vinegar works too – but watch out that you don't only dab the stain so that the vinegar odor does not linger.

If you want your wine to chill faster, the freezer is not the place to store it.  Try adding 1/4-1/3 cup salt to the ice bucket.  You'll find that the cooling process speeds up by about fifty percent faster than water from your faucet.

Two to three weeks is almost too long to store a bottle of wine in the refrigerator.  After that period of time, it can begin to lose the flavor that makes it your favorite wine.  For champagne and sparkling wine, the time from opening to serving goes down to 24 hours, or overnight.  After 24 hours the bubbles go away – The 'fun' is gone!

Do you need to send a wine gift.  If you do then make a wine basket and include specialty foods, or wine related accessories like stoppers and corkscrews, crystal ice buckets, tongs, wine totes and bags, crystal glasses, as well as a plethora of other wine-related ideas available to you with a little online research!