The Wine Bottle

The amount of wine made every year is simply staggering. Every continent on earth has embraced it and sampled it from glass cups ever since they came about. Have you ever asked yourself though, why from a glass? Why not from a mug, wooden goblet or plastic cup? The answer may not exactly be what you expected. You will find in fact a number of different alternative materials used in various countries that wine is drunk from. For example in Japan, wine is drunk from a ceramic vase-shaped container and in Thailand, wooden cups are often used. However, the overriding choice of tableware drinking vessel, wherever you go, is glass. It turns out that this is due more to the unsuitability of other materials that the excellence of glass, so let take a look at the other options.

Wood. As mentioned previously, wine is drunk from wooden cups in some places but it does have some major flaws. Stains are the first major issue, which more often than not occur as a result of red wine drinking. Even if it is very hard wood, discolouring will occur. Secondly, there is the issue of rotting, which frequency happens when wood gets wet for a long time. So after each use, time would have to be spent drying it out and removing any moisture.

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 means that when the wine comes into contact with the metal it absorbs a number of the ions and effects the flavour. 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 reasons like these, ceramic is a viable alternative, but it will never be number one. This is because, it is floored in a very basic way…its opaque. Admiring a wine’s colours and depth is a major part of any wine drinking experience. Since glass was first developed, we have had the very simple and instinctive desire for this.

Tags: drink, glass, goblet, taste, wine, wines