I find that when it comes to gifting options, everyone appreciates sturdy glassware the most. It is pretty elegant and won’t break the bank. While I’m sure you’re more than aware what a martini glass, a rock glass (the kind you have whiskey in) and a highball glass look like (highballs are the tall chimney-like glasses), like many others, you too draw a blank when it comes to wine glasses. The difference between a sparkling glass (thin) and any other wine glass is simple to discern, but what about all the different kinds of wine glasses you’re met with when you walk into a store? How do you know which glass works for which wine? Let’s talk.

The Lucaris Desire Collection From Left to Right: The Desire Rich White, The Desire Sparkling, The Desire Elegant Red, The Desire Robust Red, The Desire Universal, The Desire Crisp White

When you’re upgrading from the party cups and cheap disposable wine glasses to something a little more elegant, there can be a multitude of options to confuse you. What you need is to bring home a sturdy set of wine glasses—a collection that you will be comfortable using and showing off for when friends come over. There is a certain “je ne sais quois” when my guest knows exactly why an aged elegant wine was poured in a specific glass. Makes me appreciate the wine and I’m thoroughly impressed with my guest. A wine glass collection such as the LUCARIS DESIRE crystal collection from LUCARIS has a great shape for an everyday wine glass collection. It is proper fancy stemware that you’ll be happy swirling, smelling and sipping on.

The LUCARIS DESIRE collection has six glasses, three of which are Aerlumer® that is they have five beautiful curl lines at the bottom of the glasses, which increase the micro-oxidation while swirling, to better appreciate the wine. The characteristics of the wine can change with the glass it is poured in (and at times even the temperature). How you appreciate the wine thus also changes.

The Lucaris Desire Crystal Collection From Left to Right: The Desire Rich White, The Desire Sparkling, The Desire Elegant Red, The Desire Robust Red, The Desire Universal, The Desire Crisp White

To start things off you want to have a good all-purpose wine glass that you can pour everything from reds, whites, Burgundy, Bordeaux into, and the Desire Universal glass has the perfect bowl size suitable for both wines. The universal glass flares out from the stem and tapers as you get closer to the rim, which is characteristic of this glass. Fill only a third of the wine glass with wine when serving guests, so that when people swirl the wine, it doesn’t fly out of the glass.

When it comes to varietal-specific glasses, more than this strange fear of drinking the wrong wine in the wrong glass (you’re not a sommelier, so don’t pretend) there’s another reason you should invest in wine glasses that are varietal specific. Say you’re pouring multiple wines which would tend to happen if you’re having a sit-down affair, you would have to be able to distinguish between glasses. The LUCARIS DESIRE collection has four different glasses, two for whites and two for reds. The reds look distinctly different from the whites. One of the glasses for red wine, the Desire Robust Red has a tulip flare at the rim, whereas the Desire Elegant Red has a flat and rather large bottom to encourage more swirl area. The white wine glasses in comparison, the Desire Rich White and the Desire Crisp White both bring out a certain something in white wines. The Crisp White’s tapering top focuses the aromas of young, fresh white wines, whereas the Aerlumer® in the Desire Rich White releases the fragrances of full-bodied rich wines and you get a full heady kick of it when you nose the wine.

The final glass is the tulip flared Desire Sparkling in the box set, which due to its tapering shape and narrow opening retains the bubbles very well while trapping in all the fragrances from the sparkling wine. I would fill two-thirds of this glass if I wasn’t going to swirl it.

When it comes to good quality wine glasses, you should look at opting for a brand that’s trusted so these glasses can last you for quite some time. Graceful and well-balanced, LUCARIS’ Desire collection checks all boxes for me. It’s clear, it’s tall, it has a large enough bowl so that filling one-third of it with wine won’t cause it to fly out when I swirl and somehow, inexplicably, wine is just better when had out of a Desire glass. Take this cocktail for instance. It’s a simple pomegranate fizz that I love pouring for when friends are around. It’s a doddle to put together, but a delight to sip out of a thin, ultra-elegant sparkling glass.

Recipe:

To make a portion of this Pomegranate Fizz that serves at least 8, mix a fizzy sparkling wine of your choice (750ml) with 125ml of Cointreau and 500ml of pomegranate juice (out of a pack is fine). Stir in a pitcher then pour into a Desire Sparkling Glass and serve.

To know more about LUCARIS’ award-winning collections, visit this link