Anatomy of the glass and the wine bottle
It is said that wine is music and the glass is the instrument... or something like that. The thing is that the shape, size, and material of the wine glass will drive the olfactory and gustatory expression of the wine; we know it would be difficult to believe, but it is totally true.
First of all, we will talk about the parts of the glass, from the bottom to the top; it begins with the "foot or base" that will give balance and support to the glass.
The "stem" serves to give support and connects the base with the bowl, directs the weight of the bowl to the base, besides, it is the part of the glass that must be held in order to avoid heating the wine, which is served in the "bowl".
The bowl should be large to give to the wine a greater surface area in contact with oxygen, thus it will allow the wine to express all its aromatic potential.
Finally, there is the "rim" that should be a little narrower than the bowl to drive the aromas of the wine to the nose, nevertheless, if the glass has a very open rim it will let escape many aromas and we will assess the wine in a different way.
Certainly, the market glassware has a wide variety of shapes, even those with a special design that gets the best of each style of wine and grapevine variety. However, with a standard, universal or tasting design (such as the picture) will be enough to enjoy all kind of wines. On the other hand, an element that should not be overlooked is the material what the glass is made of. It is crucial; the glass has to be made of crystal because it has a porous structure rather than a non-porous of regular glass. This structure allows volatile substances (aromas) to be released and rise through the bowl much faster. If you do not believe it, take the test and you will see the results.
Regarding the bottle, it begins with the "closure" where the wine is poured, followed by a small ring called "collar", covered by a foil usually made of tin, aluminum or even plastic that is commonly known as "capsule".
The shape of the bottle may be different depending on the grape variety or the wine region in which the wine is made of. For example, in the French region of Burgundy, the bottles lack shoulders, while in Bordeaux they have them.
Generally, wines made of Cabernet Sauvignon tend to have shoulders, while those made from Syrah or Pinot Noir do not. The "shoulders" have the function to retain the sediments from the wine. The "body" will give structure to the bottle and finally, we have the "punt", which is the small or large pronunciation on the bottom of the bottle. There is also this myth that says that the punt is made to put the thumb into it and to take firmly the bottle and pour the wine easily, but it is not for that purpose.
The punt provides resistance to the bottle, the more pronounced it is, the more resistant it will be. This is the reason why Champagne, Cava or sparkling bottles have a more pronounced punt considered that they must be more resistant to the pressure exerted by the gas they contain inside. The punt will help to retain sediments of the wine as well.
