Something that I remember from my summer vacations on the Cote Azure is enjoying a chilled glass of rosé while basking in the late afternoon sun, working on my bikini tan lines. It is one of the great pleasures that are synonymous with a relaxing spring/summer holiday in the South of France that can be emulated wherever you are. However, the same can’t be said for warm rosé which will ruin the vibe. Besides looking unladylike, holding your glass the wrong way will cause your rosé to get warm in the glass.
Hold the glass near the base, using your thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Allow your other fingers to rest on the base. This keeps the warm skin of your hand well away from the bowl of the glass and keeps your wine cooler for longer.
Even though most wines are best served below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much lower than room temperature, rosé tastes best between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Luckily for you, I’m here to teach you the correct way to hold your glass so that you no longer have to endure warm rosé while relaxing in your bikini – or any other time for that matter.
Do You Hold A Wine Glass At The Stem Or Around The Bowl?
Take a moment to carefully look at your wine glass. There is a thin stem supporting a tall, curved glass. The design is more than just for aesthetics – it is so that you can enjoy your wine at its optimum flavors.
Your normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, which is substantially warmer than the ideal serving temperature of your rosé.
The most important purpose of the rod of glass between the base and the bowl of a wine glass is to keep your 98.6-degree hand far away from your properly chilled rosé.
If you are served wine in a stemless glass, you can hold the stemless glass by the base like you would a normal glass. But try and limit skin contact with the glass as much as possible so that you don’t heat up the wine too much.
However, stemmed glasses should always be held by the stem. Hold the glass near the base, using your thumb, index finger, and middle finger. Allow your other fingers to rest on the base.
During a wine tasting where you swirl the wine in the glass to release aromas, it is acceptable to curl the remaining fingers under the base of the glass so as to improve your grip – so that the glass does not slip from your hand while swirling.
How Should You Not Hold A Wine Glass
There are 3 distinct ways that you can hold a wine glass that will lead to lukewarm wine and spoil the aromas and flavors.
The first of these is commonly called the housewives hold or housewives grip. This involves grasping the bottom of the bowl with your whole hand. As you can imagine, this puts the warmth of your entire palm very close to the wine and will warm the wine quickly. So, that means no cupping the bowl of your Bordeaux glass or gripping the top of a champagne flute even if you see starts doing that in reality TV shows.
The next way of holding the glass that you also want to avoid is holding the glass like it’s a beer bottle by cupping only the top of the glass. Even though you are not warming the wine directly, your next sip of wine will need to pass over a warm glass on the way to your lips, and is a surefire way to ensure a warm sip of wine.
The final way of holding a wine glass that we’ll look at is also not ideal even though you might think it looks classy – and more elegant than the previous two methods of holding a glass. What I’m referring to here is holding the glass by sliding the stem between your middle and ring finger and cradling the bowl in the palm of your hand. This will still cause the contents of your glass to get warm and spoil your enjoyment of the wine.