SPIEGELAU Hybrid

The 38 cl glass is the small size for white wine and for wine by the glass where you keep a close eye on the measure poured. At 55 cl you have a universal glass that handles both white and light red wine. The 68 cl is in the range as a bordeaux shape: tall and somewhat narrow, so tannin can settle. The 84 cl is the burgundy shape, wide and round, meant for pinot noir and nebbiolo where scent matters most. With all four, count on a pouring measure of 12 to 15 cl, so never fill above the widest point. Compare with the red wine glasses and the large wine glasses.

With a series of four bowls on an identical foot, there is a risk that someone behind the bar picks up the wrong one. So group them by size and keep to the order in which you serve: the flute first, then white, then red. The 28 cl flute is narrow and holds on to bubbles for a long time, which makes it suitable for champagne on its own and for a bellini or a kir royal. Keep red wine around sixteen degrees and white wine around ten.

Spiegelau makes these glasses by machine from lead-free crystal glass, which means the rim is equally thick all round and the wall reacts predictably to heat. They may go in the dishwasher, provided you choose a short glassware programme and set the bowls clear of each other. On a tall bowl with a thin stem, the force lands on the join, so always turn the bowl along with your hand when polishing.

For smaller bowls and white wine by the glass, take a look at the white wine glasses, where the sizes under 45 cl are together. The individual sparkling models are with the champagne flute glasses, including coupes from other series. All the remaining series from this brand are under Spiegelau, where Salute is the more generous wine series and Lounge 2.0 the stemless bar series.