Arcoroc Silhouette

Start with the wine you pour most often. The 19 and 25 cl are small bowls for white wine and for a glass that needs finishing quickly. They keep the wine cold simply because they hold so little. The 31 cl is the size most households find sufficient: roomy enough to nose the wine, small enough not to over-pour. The 47 cl is the only real red wine bowl in the series and lets a full-bodied wine breathe. The 18 cl flute is narrow and tall, exactly what sparkling wine needs.

Fill a wine glass to about a third and never to the rim. It looks meagre, but it is the only way to keep the aroma hanging above the wine. Serve red wine at around sixteen degrees, so cooler rather than at room temperature, because above twenty degrees the alcohol starts to dominate. The flute is the place for a Mimosa of orange juice and sparkling wine, or for a Bellini with peach. Drink both without ice and straight after pouring, otherwise the bubbles are gone within a few minutes.

The stem is the weak point of every stemmed glass, here too. Wash them upright in the dishwasher rather than lying down, and space them far enough apart that the bowls don't touch as the spray arm turns. When washing by hand, hold the bowl in your palm rather than the stem, because that is where it snaps. Let them dry upside down on a clean cloth.

If you want a bigger bowl for red than the 47 cl, look at the red wine glasses. For the smaller sizes and the full choice in white there is white wine glasses, and all the sparkling models are together under champagne flutes. More of this brand is under Arcoroc. If you want a young red wine to open up faster without waiting, a wine aerator helps.