Author: Lucaris

A wine lover such as yourself should know how important a glass is for your favorite wine and if you are interested in wine glasses, certainly you should have heard of a wine glass made of crystal which reflects a refined quality with elegant design. So what is it that makes a crystal wine glass so different from a normal wine glass? Here is the answer of all the questions about crystal wine glasses!

What is a crystal glass?

Typical household glass is made of silica sand, potash, and limestone while crystal glass uses the same method but has 24% of lead oxide added during the creation process. Crystal glasses were invented in 1600 by George Ravenscroft, an owner of glassware store in London, England. Because of their delicate styles, crystal glasses quickly became internationally known and constantly being developed into what crystal wares are nowadays.

Are crystal wine glasses safe?

Many of you might question whether crystal glass with lead contained is safe for us wine lovers especially when it is produced as wine glass or decanter that is used to store liquid substance such as wine for a quite long time.

Although there is no official research claiming that a crystal glass is dangerous for usage, but in terms of production, lead oxide is very harmful to environment and production staff. An awareness of hazardous lead oxide and incoming health trends encourages glassware business owners to create lead-free crystal glasses that are similar in physical appearance, clarity, and durability to normal crystal glasses but not harmful to our health and the environment.

What about crystal wine glasses that are on the shelves in shopping centers? How can you trust if those glasses are lead-free? To relieve your worries, Lucaris is your absolute answer! All the Lucaris crystal glasses are lead-free and barium-free which are safe for our health and environment.

How to differentiate a crystal wine glass from normal wine glass

Thickness : A crystal wine glass will always be thinner than a regular wine glass to ensure that a wine lover will be able to enjoy drinking wine to its fullest.

Clarity : One reason why a crystal wine glass is more popular than a regular wine glass among wine lovers is because of its clarity. Clarity of a crystal wine glass is considerably clearer than normal wine glass and therefore there is no interruption for discovering colors of wine.

Weight : Another trick to distinguish a crystal wine glass from normal wine glass is to hold both glasses at the same time, and whichever glass is heavier will always be a crystal glass.

Sound : The sound “clink!” during toasting is another charm of a crystal wine glass that normal wine glass can’t do. A crystal glass will always produce better sound than a normal glass. This can be tested by simply wet your index finger and then lightly rub your wet finger along the rim of a wine glass. Another possible method is to do a toast between two glasses. Toasting between crystal glasses will create vibrant sound whereas dull sound is a result of toasting between normal glasses. However, please keep in mind that toasting between wine glasses could potentially result in injuries if not careful. Thus, our next topic is to teach you how to do a proper toasting without risking your beautiful hands!

Wine Toasting 101

Believe it or not, if we are forced to toast, a lot of people will choose to use the rim of a wine glass, and since the rim is extremely fragile, not only it will be broken easily if we are not careful enough but we likely will make a mess and embarrass ourselves as a result. So what is a proper way to do toasting?

Practice makes perfect! You slightly tilt your glass bowl first while your partner stays in the exact position, then both you and your partner must lightly toast and if you are doing it correctly you will hear a perfect crystal clear sound of interaction between two wine glasses! Good thing about toasting is to prevent wine from spilling.

Lucaris Wine Glass Clinking

Proper Ways of Taking Care of Your Crystal Wine Glasses

How to clean crystal wine glasses in a dish washing machine

Some brand of crystal wine glasses might need extra care during cleaning process because of many reasons. However, Lucaris crystal wine glasses are strong, sturdy, chemical-free, and therefore can be put directly into a dish washer. Follow our steps to keep your crystal wine glasses as perfect as new :

1. Always arrange the similar size of wine glasses together to protect a wine glass from colliding each other.

2. Clean food and lipstick stains before putting into a dish washer.

3. Always put wine glasses at the very top compartment of a dish washer.

4. Height of a dish washer compartment should match the height of wine glasses so that they can be set firmly during the washing process.

5. Set the temperature of your dish washer to low heat and turn on “Glass Friendly” mode.

6. Never take wine glasses out right away after your dish washer is finished. Always let wine glasses steam themselves for a while.

7. To clean water that is still on wine glasses, use micro-fiber towels.

How to clean wine glasses using our hands

1. Before cleaning wine glasses, make sure your hands are clean and always have towels nearby you.

2. Always clean wine glasses with warm water and not with detergent.

3. Dry wine glasses by putting them upside down on a linen cloth.

4. Steaming wine glasses helps maintaining wine glasses’ clarity.

5. Only use micro-fiber cloth to clean wine glasses.

6. Use your left hand to hold a wine glass while your right hand does the cleaning. Try not to rotate wine glass because its stem might be damaged.

If you ever wanted to be a wine expert, you need to know and master the basics first. Knowing grape varieties and wine regions are the most basic that all wine beginners and wine lovers should know. This is because both will help you be able to analyze characteristics of wines and labels on wine bottles.

Believe it or not, there are many wineries all around the world. However, more than 80% of them are exported from France, Italy, Spain, America, Argentina, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Chile, and Portugal. We are excited to present and guide you to the top 5 wine regions that you should know to even further your wine knowledge!

1. France

One thing that many of wine experts would think of when it comes to a country that has the most famous wineries and their techniques/styles become very well-known and use all over the world. That’s right, It’s France!

France is one of the country that produces wine the most on earth. The amount that is yearly made by this country is approximately 5000-6000 million liter or around 7-8 billion bottles. Not to mention that classic brands like Cabernet Sauvignon, Shira, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay are originated in France. Also, very famous wineries such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne are reside in France as well.

1.1 Bordeaux

You can call Bordeaux as the biggest winery in France. This region produces almost 700 million bottles per year which 98% of products are red wine. The famous wine from this region uses varieties of grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend together to create the Bordeaux blend wine and dessert white wine is a second famous from Sauternes.

1.2 Burgundy

Burgundy is a region that has very high quality of winemaking. Many of its vineyard are ranked in Grand Cru class. Famous wines from Burgundy are usually dry red wine and white wine which make from pinot noir and chablis respectively.

1.3 Champagne

Champagne locates in the northeastern part of France and very famous in sparkling wine production which later became widely known all around the world. Interestingly, sparkling wine sometimes call champange only if it is produced in Champange.

2. Italy

Italy is another country that produces old world wine mainly. Italy wine production rate is around 4,500-5,000 million liter per year and considered to be one of the biggest wine exporters in the world. Not only that, Italy acutally has a very high rate of wine consumption as well, approximately 42 liters per person! Thus, 1 million acre of vineyard including Veneto and Tuscany locate all over Italy are dedicate to maintain all of italian wine lovers.

2.1 Veneto

One-third of wine production in Italy comes from Veneto. This region has advantages of coldness from the Alps and warmness from Adriatic sea and therefore able do various types of viniculture. Featured wines from Veneto include white wine Soave and red wine Amarone.

2.2 Tuscany

Tuscany locates in the central part of Italy that closes to the Tyrrhenian sea. Many of well-known wineries such as Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are also in Tuscany. The most famous grape in Tuscany is Sangiovese and signature wine is sweet wine Vin Santo.

3. United States of America

The United States of America is ranked below France, Italy, and Spain in wine production. Unexpectedly, 90% USA’s wine comes from California state that has famous wineries such as Napa Valley and Sonoma county where Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the most pick grape varieties.

3.1 Napa Valley

Wines from Napa Valley are famous from their premium quality. This due to weather conditions, geology, and topography which are similar to those in the Mediterranean, enable Napa valley to grow varieties of grapes.

3.2 Sonoma County

Sonoma County is another province that vinicultures the most in the United States of America. Mountain range climate conditions and fertile soil in Sonoma county are perfect for grape variesties such as Cabernet Sauvigno, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Zinfandel.

4. Australia

In Australia, wine isn’t just a beverage but it is actually a massive industry that stimulates the country’s economy, employment rate, and tourism. Australia produces approximately 750 million liter per year. Unfortunately, only 40% of the population consumes wines. The main grape varieties of Australia are Shiraz and Chardonnay.

4.1 Barossa Valley

For anyone that is a fan of Shiraz grape must at once try Shiraz red wine from Barossa valley in his or her life time. Shiraz red wine comes with full-bodied taste, slightly spicy, and chocalate fragrance. Because of it, Shiraz red wine is now internationally known and Barossa valley is considered to the best winery in Australia.

4.2 Margaret River

If you are looking for a premium mine. You need to look for wine from Margaret river because more than 20% of premium wine from Australia is produced from this area. Featured wine from Margarent river is Bordeaux red wine from Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

5. Chile

The last country that is considered to be the biggest wine exporter is Chile. The charm of Chilean wines come from the perfect mix of France and Pacific coast weather conditions.The must try wines when you are in Chile are Cabernet Sauvignon red wine, Merlot red wine, and especially Carmenere red wine from Carmenere grape that is originated in Bordeaux, France but rarely can be found nowadays.

5.1 Maipo Valley

Maipo Valley locates in the southern part of Chile’s capital city. Cabernet Sauvignon red wine is extremely famous and has a world class quality. Maipo valley is divided into 3 parts: Central Maipo, Pacific Maipo, Alto Maipo; and because of its fresh air and dry condition, this will help bring out the freshness of wine.

5.2 Colchagua Valley

Colchagua valley has similar climate as the Mediterranean and is slightly colder than the Maipo valley. Featured grape varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. In addition, Colchagua valley is considered to be the “Napa valley” of Chile.

After we have learned all about the “Top 5 Wine Regions” that many of wine beginners must know. You should be able to roughly classify styles and characteristics of wines that are in your interests. Nonetheless, this is just a small essence of wine basics. If you would like to expand your horizon in the wine world, there are more articles written by us such as Wine Basic : Grape Varieties and Importance of Choosng a Wine Glass for a Specific Wine.

Knowing main types of wine is the first good step to start knowing the world of wine. Although many people may think that identifying wines into such the red or white wine can be as simple as using your eye to classify the color, each wine type actually has its own character and identity which according to grape varieties andwine region and also including tannin level, aroma and bouquet, sweet, and alcohol level which all affect the flavors in some way.

To make it simple, we will classify the wine into 5 main categories; Red, White, Rose, Sweet or Dessert and Sparkling.

1. White Wine

Many of you may understand that white wine is made of white grapes alone, but actually it can be either red or black grapes. The exact way to make white wine is to extract the red pigments away and utilize on grape juice only. Mostly, white wine will provide flavor character including bright, savory, and creamy based on the inputs. Recommended varieties for wine beginners are Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Moscato.

Food Pairing: Creamy cheese (Soft Cheese), white bread, meat, fish, seafood or salads (Read about pairing white wine and salad in a review of Skyve, Singapore. click here)

Recommended Wine Glass: We recommend a tall suitable size wine glass e.g. LUCARIS Desire Crisp White for the wine with distinctive flavors of tart and bright. For the outstanding aroma and full-bodied white wine, try to pair with a shorter glass such as LUCARIS Desire Rich White or any LUCARIS Chardonnay Wine glass with the signature innovative of Aerlumer@ to help spread the fragrance and flavor of full-bodied white wine.

2. Red Wine

Production of red wine is quite similar to making white wine but only with the addition of grape skin, grape pip and seed incorporated into the fermentation process. Red wine will be fermented in higher temperature, to extract color, tannin, aroma and flavors with different level of concentration varies by duration of fermentation.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel can also be a good choice to start with for wine beginners.

Food Pairing: If it is a light-bodied red wine, go with grilled vegetables, white meat or chicken. A medium-bodied to full-bodied can get along well with meat dishes such as steaks, hamburgers or smoked meat but when you feel like pairing wine with Asian dishes, you can read it from here.

Recommended Wine Glass: Aged red wine should be served in a big bowl glass to let the wine breathe (oxidation process) better such as LUCARIS Desire Elegant Red or any LUCARIS Burgundy Glass. For young red wine, try LUCARIS Desire Robust Red with the Aerlumer@ innovation or any LUCARIS Bordeaux and Cabernet glass.

3. Rose Wine

Rose wine with a pink rose color is made from red or black grape with a short fermentation time, about 12-36 hours only. However, there is another popular style to make this Rose, by just straight away blending red wine and white wine together. The flavor of this wine ranges from dry to sweet and comes with a pale to dark pink color and a lower level of tannin.

Food Pairing: Rose wine always goes well with a light flavor dishes like fish, poultry, or fruit.

Recommended Wine Glass: LUCARIS Desire Universal is an ideal for serving Rose wine with the magic of Aerlumer@, the bottom curl lines. This glass also goes well with both red and white wines since it was designed to cope with characters and identities of each wine type, the perfect tool of the trade for restaurateurs.

4. Dessert or Sweet Wine

There is no constant definition for Dessert or Sweet wine. Mostly, it is because of the character of sweetness itself with the occasion of serving with desserts after the meal. But in some countries such as United Kingdom, people usually drink sweet white wine as an aperitif, before the meal, and sweet red wine to rinse their palate after. Sweet wine can be categorized into Port, Tawny, or Sherry and so on.

Food Pairing: In addition to the dessert, the wine can also be paired perfectly with smoked meat and soft cheese too.

Recommended Wine Glass: It is usually served in a shot, small glass such as LUCARIS Shanghai Soul Grappa or Liqueur glass. In addition, these mentioned glasses are made from crystal, which has many features comparing to conventional glass. (Read more.)

5. Sparkling Wine

When thinking of Sparkling wine, we will be reminded of a celebration. The sparkling bubbles from carbon dioxide (CO2) occur naturally or specifically are added during the fermentation process.

Sparkling wine can be categorized further by region, for example; Cava in Spain, Asti or Prosecco from Italy and Champagne from the Champagne region in France.

Food Pairing: If you are holding a party, try pairing the sparkling wine with salad, cheese, fish, or bread.

Recommended Wine Glass: An elegant tall glass helps retain temperature and bubbles such as LUCARIS Desire Sparkling or any LUCARIS Champagne Glass.

The content in this article helps you choose the wine you prefer matching the right glass and food. If you want to learn more in details about wine culture, we encourage you to read these stories. Start with “Popular varieties of grapes used to make wine”, and “Wine Region”. For those who are looking for “Wine Glass” to serve your favorite bottle, you can browse through these leading online sites; Wine-Now, Central and Lazada and search for LUCARIS crystal wine glasses.