Why do we drink wine in stemmed glass?

As a good wine lover, you are probably used to drinking your drink in stemmed glasses. But have you ever wondered why?

Here are a few anecdotes about the origins of this old tradition.

Stemmed glasses to avoid poisoning

Some attribute the presence of stemmed glasses to taste. If this argument justifies their use today, (as we will see a little later), it does not however explain the use that was made of them in 17th century France. In fact, stemmed glasses are said to have made their appearance following the Poison Affair, a series of scandals linked to poisoning attempts between 1679 and 1682, which involved high representatives of the Court of Louis XIV and of Parisian aristocratic society. After this affair, it became common practice to serve wine in stemmed glasses, holding them by their lower part. In this way, it was impossible to introduce poison into the liquid served, since the hand did not come into contact with the rim of the glass.

Wine served in stemmed glasses: the golden rule for professional tastings

The days of the Royal Court are long gone. Yet drinking wine from water glasses would seem almost unthinkable today. There's a very specific reason for this, and it's a taste one. A glass without a stem requires that it be grasped by the hand, which has the effect of warming the wine and sometimes altering its taste. On the other hand, a stemmed glass allows us to keep our hand away from the balloon (i.e. the part that contains the liquid) and to keep the wine at the right temperature. Moreover, the stemmed glass that we hold by the stem allows us to rotate the wine in order to open up its aromas, as is commonly done during a wine tasting...