15 Best Wine Glasses for Every Occasion & Every Wine

There are many wine glasses on the market, and it can be hard to decide which one is best for you.

In this post, we will talk about the 8 different types of wine glasses and recommend the best wine glass for each type of wine. We will also recommend an affordable option for each wine glass.

Whether you like red wine, white wine, or sparkling wine, we have you covered!

What are the Best Wine Glasses for Every Type of Wine?

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1) Burgundy Wine Glasses

A Burgundy glass is typically shorter than your Bordeaux glass and has a wider bowl than standard wine glasses.

This wine glass is generally for Pinot Noirs or any other lighter and more delicate red wine

The reason why this type of wine glass is best for red wines is because it features a slightly large bowl that allows you to capture the aromas of the wine. Meanwhile, the thin lip delivers the pour into your mouth smoothly. The thinner lip design enhances the sweetness of the wine. This allows you to taste all of the flavors of the wine without any interference.

Best Pick: Zalto Denk'Art Burgundy Glass

It’s a high-end stemware and a top choice for many wine connoisseurs – lightweight, break-resistant, and stunning. The generous bowl and tapered rim are designed to give you the fullest definition of your fruity and spiced red wines or vintage wine.

Zalto’s Denk’Art Collection is a luxurious stemware experience from one sip to the next.
Used at many Michelin Star restaurants including Le Bernandin in NYC
Dishwasher safe, mouth blown, lead free
My Personal Favorite

Affordable Option: Riedel VINUM Pinot Glass

Made by one of, if not the largest premium wine glass brand in the world. This elegant, yet simple design will add a touch of sophistication to your dinner table.

The large bowl will capture all the nuances and aromas the red wine has to offer. This glass will highlight the rich fruit-forward characters and temper the high acidity of the wine.

Sold as a set of two (2)
Machine made crystal glass and dishwasher safe
Sturdy and beautiful wine glass

2) Bordeaux Wine Glasses

A Bordeaux wine glass is generally meant for drinking full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or other high-tannin wines. It’s the largest of all wine glasses. If you look at it, it’s like an oversized red wine glass – or glass on steroids!

This type of glass is essentially used more as a decanter. Oxygen is needed to open up some wine, so you’ll see that it’s not as closed at the top.

So, unlike the Burgundy wine glass, a Bordeaux wine glass isn’t designed to trap as many aromatics.

Best Pick: Riedel Bordeaux Glass

It’s designed to enhance the flavors of full-bodied, tannic reds like Bordeaux, Merlot, Cabernet, Rioja, and Tempranillo.

The large size of this glass allows the bouquet to develop fully, and smooths out any rough edges. The fruit of the red wine is accentuated, playing down its bitterness. This allows wines to achieve balance and appreciation for all tastes.

Sold as a set of two (2)
24% lead crystal
Dishwasher safe but recommended to hand wash

Affordable Option: Spiegelau Salute Bordeaux Glasses

Flawless, scratch-resistance, and no fogging or loss of brilliance. It’s an affordable sipping wine glass ideal for any full bodied reds while impressing guests.

In 2004, Spiegelau joined the RIEDEL family of brands. Therefore, you can only expect the best quality at an even better price.

Dishwasher safe
Sold as a wine glass set of four (4)

3) Chardonnay Wine Glasses

The Chardonnay wine glass is mostly used for white wine.

It’s the biggest and widest glass designed for white wines but smaller than a Pinot Noir/Burgundy glass. It has a more upright “U” shape and is ideal for younger white wine – perfect for serving Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Chenin Blanc.

Best Pick: Riedel Veritas Chardonnay Glass

Lightweight and designed for long-term daily use at home, perfect if you drink wine daily.

This glass is designed to highlight the velvety texture of the wine and emphasizing the fruit flavors. And it is perfect to allow any wine to express their freshness and mineral characteristics.

Machine made and safe dishwasher use
Sold as a set of two (2)

Affordable Option: Spiegelau Salute White Wine Glasses

This wine glass is a beautiful and perfect serving vessel for all your favorite wines. The glass not only helps to release the aromas of white wines, but also balances their sweetness.

Sold as a wine glass set of four (4)
Dishwasher safe

4) Coupe Wine Glasses

Think of the movie The Great Gatsby. This type of glass is generally from the 1920s era.

It has a super-wide bowl that doesn’t allow you to swirl the wine, and if you’re drinking a sparkling wine using a coupe, the bubbles will evaporate quickly.

Nevertheless, it’s a fine wine glass to look at and use.

Best Pick: RCR Cristalleria Italiana Aria Collection

It’s the first of its kind! A 100% Recyclable Eco-friendly crystal glass. This is a fun glass to use for a cocktail or your next Gatsby party.

The 1st 100% Recyclable Eco Crystal
Sold as a set of six (6)
Made in Italy
Lead free crystal

5) Stemless Wine Glasses

It is the most modern style of a wine glass, which started around the late 90s. Stemless wine glasses are becoming more and more popular because they are less likely to break and they are easier to store.

Stemless wine glasses allow more people to drink wine more casually. It’s a great option to use for picnics or when you’re just having a good time or drinking boxed wine.

Best Pick: Riedel O Wine Tumbler

It’s a perfect gift set and a casual and fun way to enjoy varietal wines like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

This series has become one of RIEDEL’s best selling glasses. The contemporary design of this glass makes it the perfect accessory for everyday use.

Sold as a set of four (4)
Fine crystal and safe with dishwasher

Affordable Option: TOSSWARE Recyclable Wine Tumbler

These stemless wine glasses are perfect for serving your favorite wine or other drinks at the next party or birthday celebration. Toast and clink to your heart’s content — no chips, no cracks, just cheers.

Feel free to reuse, but hand wash them only.

Unbreakable plastic
Sold as a set of 48
Recyclable

6) Port Wine Glasses

This one is a much smaller wine glass than most, so you would get a smaller standard pour of just 3oz. instead of 5oz.

Since port wines are generally strong and full of alcohol, you don’t need as much of it anyway. Basically, when a port glass is out, it tells me that it’s time for dessert.

Best Pick: Riedel Bar Vinum Crystal Port Glass

The glassware is perfect to show off the rich, sweet flavors of Port. Some of the world’s greatest port experts selected this glass as the ideal shape.

Sold as a set of two (2)
Machine made and safe with dishwasher

Affordable Option: Stolzle Professional Port Glass

Professional and classic port glass with tapered rim designed to bring out the sweet aromas and flavors of dessert wines. It improves the taste and complexity, while also lending an elegant air to every sip!

Sold as a set of six (6)
Lead-free crystal

7) Champagne Flutes

There is nothing more celebratory type of wine glass than a Champagne flute aka Champagne glass.

It’s the perfect stemware to keep the bubbles going, although it doesn’t allow you to smell the aromas of the wine or swirl the glass.

It’s more for sparkling wines, but if you have Champagne, I personally suggest using any normal wine glass for it.

Best Pick: Riedel Performance Champagne Glasses

This is one of the best champagne glasses for light, fresh, dry sparkling wines. The wine’s fresh fruitiness is emphasized by the shape of the glass, which tempers its high acidity and brings out fruity aromas in the chilled wine.

Unique tulip-shaped design plus the ‘sparkling point’ allows the wine to intensify while aiding the formation of bubbles.

Sold as a set of two (2)
Dishwasher safe

Affordable Option: Vintorio GoodGlassware

Long-stemmed, elongated bowl shape of the classic Champagne flute glass allows maximum bubbles to retain.

Perfect for casual dinners at home, celebrations and hosting glamorous parties. Champagne flutes are always fun!

Recyclable, lead-free glass
Safe with dishwasher
Sold as a set of four (4)

8) Universal Wine Glasses

AKA All-Purpose Wine Glass

The universal glass is the most useful kind of all.

As the name implies, you can basically use it for drinking any type of wine or use it for any occasion. That includes Champagne. It’s generally beautiful, thin, and elegant.

When choosing the best glass to use with your wine, I think when in doubt, use the universal glass.

Best Pick: Zalto Denk'Art Universal Glass

All-for-one wine glass preferred by wine enthusiasts, perfectly shaped for white, red, sparkling, and dessert wines. One of the most elegant wine glasses. And the thinness of this glass accentuates the complexity of the wine.

Zalto Denk’Art Collection is luxury stemware
Lead-Free and sold individually or as a set of 6.
9.4″ height, 18 ounces
Mouth-blown, lead-free

Affordable Option: Schott Zwiesel Glas Tritan Pure Stemware Collection

Perfect for use on every occasion serving full-bodied white or young or full-bodied red wines at a very affordable price.

Sold as a set of two (2)
Break-resistant and dishwasher safe

What Are The Differences Between a Red and White Wine Glass?

Red and white glasses differ in many things – shape and size, depending on the type of wine they are intended to hold.

Some key differences between red and white glasses:

Red wine glasses are taller with a slightly larger bowl than white wine glasses. It’s because reds tend to be bolder and bigger wines. As such, they need a larger glass that will allow the wine’s aromas and flavors to prosper.
White wine glasses have less curved walls. They also tend to have slightly narrower openings.
Red wine glasses have rounder-shaped bowls, allowing more air to interact with the wine. The aeration in wine allows it to open up and display the flavors more prominently.
Some red wine glasses can have tulip-shaped rims to invite more oxygen into the glass and the wine.
And since most white wines don’t need much aeration or the space to breathe, you will find that white wine glasses feature shorter bowls. It allows your nose to be closer to the wine when taking a sip, a much better way to experience its aromatic qualities.
Most white wine glasses feature longer stems than red wine glasses. It allows a greater distance between your wine and your hand, and there’s a good reason for that. Generally a white wine is more sensitive to temperature and need to be served below room temperature. The longer stem keeps your hand from warming up the wine with your body heat.

Do Wine Glasses Really Make a Difference?

Wine glasses can definitely make a difference in how your wine tastes. The right wine glass can enhance the flavors of your wine and make it more enjoyable to drink. If you are looking to get the most out of your wine, we recommend using the best wine glass for each type of wine.

However, if you are on a budget, our affordable wine glass options are still a great choice.

But in all honesty, you can still enjoy wine in any normal glass.

What is a Wine Glass?

Lip, Bowl, Stem, Base – these are the four parts of a wine glass.

With that said, you’ve probably noticed the different styles, shapes, and sizes of stemware (or stemless) for wines. We’ll get into the various nuances between the red and white glass types below.

There are three main types of red wine glasses:

Full-bodied wine glass (Bordeaux glass)
Medium-bodied wine glass (Either)
Light-bodied wine glass (Burgundy glass)

Meanwhile, there are two categories for white wine glasses:

Full-bodied white wine
High acidic white wine

While you can certainly be fine with just a set of glasses for both white and red wines, having a proper varietal glass pairing can bring a tremendous difference to your experience.

Summary

There are many red vs white glass options. But you really don’t need all of these wine glasses. So, if you had to choose one glass, buy the Universal Wine Glass!