Schott Zwiesel Tulip Taste

Line the four wine bowls up in order and the choice makes itself. The white wine glass of 35.6 cl keeps the wine cool because you pour in smaller measures. The red wine glass of 49.7 cl is the everyday size, wide enough for a merlot or a rioja without the glass dominating the table. The bordeaux glass of 65.6 cl is taller and narrower and softens the tannins of a cabernet sauvignon. The burgundy glass of 78.2 cl has the widest bowl and is there for pinot noir and nebbiolo, where aroma matters more than structure. The champagne glass of 28.3 cl has a moussing point. You will find more sizes among the wine glasses and the red wine glasses.

With a tulip shape, overfilling works against you. Fill to the widest point and no higher, because it is the space between the wine and the rim that does the work: that is where the aroma gathers before it travels through the narrower opening to your nose. So swirl gently, in small circles. With the champagne glass of 28.3 cl, pour to about two thirds and hold the bottle low over the rim so the foam does not overflow. Hold every glass by the stem and not around the bowl.

Tulip Taste is made of Tritan crystal glass, in which titanium and zirconium provide a harder rim and a stronger transition from stem to bowl. That is exactly where a tulip-shaped glass is vulnerable, because the narrow opening means you end up twisting a cloth inside the glass when washing by hand. Use the dishwasher instead, at sixty degrees at most, and place the bowls separately in the rack. If the glass dries with streaks, go over it with a linen cloth while it is still hand-warm.

To see how this shape compares with the rest of the brand, take a look at the Schott Zwiesel glasses. For bubbles in a different format there are the champagne glasses, and for a young red wine that needs time the decanters. With the champagne glass from this range, which is roomier than a narrow flute, you can make a French 75 or a Mimosa.