best shapes for general white and red wines

Hey folks, I have a few stemware questions (who doesn't?). Buying stemware today is complicated business. Evidently, the days of just two shapes for wine glasses are over. Now, the popular manufacturers, Riedel and Spiegelau to name a few, sell shapes specific to types of wines. The common Spegalau Vino Grande collection, for instance, contains glasses for Bordeau, Burgundy, Chardonnay, and Champagne. So let's neglect the carbonated and fortified wines for now, and consider common red and white types, Old World as well as New. Let's say that I want to begin my collection with two shapes, one generally for each color wine. Let's say also that the folks I'll be serving probably don't understand the subtle differences in shapes, other than that white wine glasses are generally more narrow to maintain the contents at low temperatures, and let's also say they have only moderately refined experience with wines. Thus, I would need shapes best suited to any wine of the respective color, compromising characteristics where necessary. I'm curious to know what in general you would say are the two shapes suited for beginning a collection of stemware. If you have insights and experiences on this topic, please email me. Thank you, EPL snipped-for-privacy@swarthmore.edu (remove three b's)

Reply to
EPL
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First, please understand that I view this whole "shape" thing with a most jaundiced eye and am certainly not interested in perpetuating that discussion at this time. I recently had to buy new glasses and decided on only 2 shapes; I use and 14oz Bordeaux style glass for both whites and for robust reds ie; Bordeaux or Syrah type wines; I use a 24oz balloon Burgundy style glass for lighter reds such as Pinot Noir, Gamay etc.

Reply to
Chuck Reid

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