Wine by the glass

Wine glasses vary in size, shape and design, but good ones will be clear and unadorned (so you can view the colour and clarity of the wine), not too thick (so the glass doesn't obstruct your contact with the wine) and with a stem long enough so you can hold the glass without handling the bowl (which raises the temperature of the liquid).

Most good wine glasses are tulip-shaped (they narrow toward the rim of the glass) to channel the volatile aroma and flavour essences of the wine into the nerve receptors at the rear of your nasal cavity when you sniff the wine. As a rule, the bowls of red wine glasses are larger and wider than those for whites.

Most table wines are served in moderately-sized (200ml to 250ml) glasses, while dessert wines fare better in smaller (100ml to 150ml) glasses, and sparkling wines require a taller, more slender glass known as a champagne flute, which keeps the bubbles from dissipating.

If you already have a selection of the popular coloured glasses, keep them for your more humble wines – those you don't necessarily want to show off.

For true connoisseurs willing to spend more, there are glasses specifically designed to highlight the attributes of different wine types. (The most famous producer of such glassware is Georg Riedel, an Austrian whose collections of crystal stemware are favoured by restaurateurs and professional wine tasters throughout the world.)

Matching glasses are not a pre-requisite these days, but regardless of the glassware you choose keep enough glasses on hand to accommodate dinner parties and other social occasions. Normally the ones you hire from your local bottle store won't do your prized wine collection justice.

When serving wine don't fill the glass more than half-full, so the taster can swirl the wine in the bowl to release its aromas without spilling.

Clean glasses by hand-washing them in lukewarm water with a small amount of dishwashing liquid. (Be sure to rinse well.) Don't leave glasses in a dish drainer - they'll wind up getting broken and will have ugly smears. And don't be tempted to put crystal glasses in the dishwasher.

Store clean glasses upright on a well-ventilated shelf, or better yet, hang them upside down from a wooden glass rack.