The wineglass plays an important role in tasting. Every wineglass has a stem which connects the body of the glass, called the bowl or goblet, to the base. Normally, the glass is held by the stem so as not to warm the wine and to prevent leaving fingerprints. Wineglasses are not designed primarily to be decorative, but to hold wine: their lines should be clean and pure. Coloured glasses are not recommended, though some do exist for Alsatian and German wines. In fact, transparent glasses, such as crystal, reflect light and bring out all the nuances of the wine's colour. There are three principal kinds of wineglasses, distinguished by their shape:

• for white wines, multi-purpose glasses
• for red wines, glasses with large bowls
• for sparkling wines, flutes or coupes

Multi-purpose glasses, although intended for white wines, can also be used for reds. This however does not apply to red wine glasses, which can be used only for red wines.

Aside from these three main shapes, there exists a huge variety of glasses. In fact, many famous wine-producing regions have created their own specific glass. A Burgundy glass, for example, consists of a very large bowl with a wide base that closes in towards the top.

Similarly, shapes and capacity vary. The average capacity of a wine glass is about 350 ml (about 12 oz.). The important thing is that the bowl allow you to swirl the wine around, in order to aerate it and reveal the subtleties of its bouquet. Therefore the glass should not be too wide open, in order to concentrate the aromas.

Finally, the glass should not be too thick, so that it does not create an unpleasant barrier between the taster's mouth and the wine.

As for arranging the glasses on the table, they should be set in the order in which they will be used, beginning from the right.