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How Do I Choose the Best Dessert Wine Glasses?

A. Leverkuhn
A. Leverkuhn

When it’s necessary to look for the best quality sets of dessert wine glasses on the market, shoppers can evaluate how these glasses hold different vintages, how they present them to drinkers, and how they hold up over time. All of these criteria can make a difference in how useful a set of wine glasses is for home or commercial use. Consider a variety of aspects when shopping for superior design and quality of construction for these products.

Dessert wine glasses should be durable, yet sophisticated. Some of the best designs have a specific thickness of glass that helps to present the wine well, but also helps to preserve the glasses over time. More sophisticated hand-blown designs are often desired over cheaply produced machine manufactured wine glasses.

Dessert wine glasses are typically small, since they don't need to hold as much wine.
Dessert wine glasses are typically small, since they don't need to hold as much wine.

Another big issue with dessert wine glasses is that servers will often use them to serve a specific amount of wine. The right glasses for dessert wines will usually be smaller than others that are used to serve large cups of wine, either with meals or in a bar scenario. Dessert wines, which tend to be very sweet and strongly flavored, are traditionally poured in much smaller servings, which is why getting the right size for dessert wine glasses is so important.

The shape of dessert wine glasses also affects how the wine is poured and presented. For a conventional wine glass, wine experts suggest that a flared or bowl design will help tasters get the most out of different vintages. The shopping process may be different for dessert wine glasses, where a champagne flute style or a smaller tumbler style may be preferred.

Shoppers will also want to evaluate whether dessert wine glasses will be easy to clean and easy to pour wine into. Larger-mouthed classes can more easily accommodate flow from a bottle. Some dishwasher safe designs are easy to clean, and other designs contain less of the nooks and crannies that can get contaminated with wine residue. For example, wine glasses with small dimples in the bottoms may not be the best choice for wine glasses that will end up being hand-washed.

Although many dessert wine glasses are made with a smooth, thin glass exterior, some may also include more sophisticated glass designs. These may include octagonal or other squared edges rather than a simple round design. Some dessert glasses also may have complex patterns and designs etched or engraved into them for a specific visual result. Certain dessert wine glass sets are even made to complement the shapes and styles of decanters, carafes, or other wine serving accessories. Collecting an elegant matching serving set can help in creating the ideal environment for enjoying this type of wine with guests.

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    • Dessert wine glasses are typically small, since they don't need to hold as much wine.
      By: Ruslan Semichev
      Dessert wine glasses are typically small, since they don't need to hold as much wine.