The amount of wine made every year is simply staggering. It is drunk in nearly every country in the world and invariably it is from a glass. The question is however, why do we use glass? Why not from a plastic cup, mug or wooden goblet? 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, wooden cups are used in Thailand and in Japan they often drink their wine from a ceramic vase-like cup. However, the overriding choice of tableware drinking vessel, wherever you go, is glass. It’s really more a result of other methods not being appropriate than glass being that special in any way. Lets examine what else is on offer.
Wood. Wine is indeed drunk from wooden vessels as highlighted previously, although it doesn’t come without some big downsides. Stains are the first major issue, which more often than not occur as a result of red wine drinking. Discolouring will even happen with hardwoods. Further to this, wood has a habit of rotting when its remains wet for any great length of time. So every time it gets used, it would need to be dried pretty well.
Metal. If you have ever drunk wine from a metal cup you will know it’s not the best experience ever. Metals have a large number of things called ions, and when most wines come into contact with it ‘displacement’ can happen. This basically means that some of the metals ions move into the wine and so affect the taste. 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. For these reasons it utilised an an alternative, however it will never be as popular as glass due to one elemental floor - you can’t see through it. When you are tasting wines, you want to be able to study their unique aesthetic qualities and consistencies. Since glass was first developed, we have had the very simple and instinctive desire for this.
Filed under Wine Making Tips by Wine Making Expert

















































