Anna-Christina Cabrales, a sommelier, said there are three reasons to question how you hold your wine glass and they can impact on it’s taste
Many of us reach for a glass of wine to relax at the end of a hard day
But it has emerged the way we hold a glass of wine is important if you want to enjoy it at its best.
The correct way to hold a glass containing wine depends on what you are quaffing.
A sommelier has revealed we have all been holding a glass wrongly our whole lives.
It is, however, not just about how you look but how the drink ends up tasting as a result of how you wrap your fingers round.
Anna-Christina Cabrales, a sommelier and tasting director of Wine Enthusiast told Tyla there are three reasons to question how you hold your wine glass.
She says the first is the heat of your body which could warm the drink which is important for white wine drinkers.
Wine glass-holding etiquette can also the actual flavour of the wine.
Those who drink red wine know about allowing it to air once uncorked
But the specialist site says our “sense of smell is more responsible than taste in the perception of flavour” And swirling the drink to pass the aroma to our nose impacts our enjoyment of the wine.
Your fingers may leave prints, dirt or grease on the glass, which isn’t always nice to look at but also apparently changes the smell you get from the wine too, according to Cabrales.
Another reason for knowing the proper wine glass-holding etiquette is because it can affect the actual flavour of the wine.
Red wine drinkers will know the importance of aeration – well, saying that, I love red wine, but just take whatever the cheapest bottle is on the shelf so that says a lot.
According to Wine Enthusiast, our ‘sense of smell is more responsible than taste in the perception of flavour’ and so how we’re holding our glass to swirl our wine and waft it’s smell into our nostrils can have a big impact on how much we enjoy it.
Fingers can also leave prints or greasy smears on the glass, according to Cabrales These are not pleasant to look at and but are also said to change the smell you get from the wine too, according to Cabrales.
Holding a wine glass is a delicate matter among wine buffs. You can use a ‘thumb and forefinger’ technique or pinch at the stem as if it were a mug;
Experts say you should ‘pinch at the base’ with other fingers resting underneath the base or ‘lever the thumb’ so it sticks out above with fingers providing support from below.
Four Points Prishtina says there are certain glasses and types of drink..
A white wine should be pinched as far away from the drink as possible.
With a red, however, you should pinch ‘nearer the top of the stem as it does not need to stay chilled.
When it comes to a whiskey glass, the video shows a waitress cupping the bottom.
A champagne flute or a martini glass is similar with a higher pinch on a cocktail glass for more balance.
Wine drinkers on Reddit suggested other ways. One user said: “I don’t. I use a crazy straw.”
Another questioned: “Nobody else just drinks out of the decanter?”
A final commenter added: “I hold a wine glass any damn way I want.”
