The History of Wine Glasses

Although people have been drinking wine out of various glasses for far longer, the modern-day wine glass is thought to have been created in Venice, Italy around 1400. Medieval Venice was the center of the glassblowing world and the earliest modern wine glasses were likely made of cristallo glass. As for the design of the wine glasses, the silhouette was likely borrowed from Catholic chalices used during Mass. Notably, early Venetian wine glasses were made using a purification process that also removed some stabilizing agents, so the glasses would often deteriorate quickly. In the 1600s, English glassmakers were directed to stop using oak wood to fuel their fires and turned to sea-coal as a fuel source. Because they burned hotter, these sea-coal fires produced much stronger wine glasses (notably, this new glass was also used to make stronger Champagne bottles). In the 1670s, Englishman George Ravenscroft added lead oxide and flint to the glass mixture, creating a stronger, more aesthetically pleasing glass that resembled crystal. For many years, wine glasses were refilled by footmen at dinner parties, but in the late 1700s into the 1800s, wine bottles moved to the table and wine glasses were included as part of the table setting. This led to a desire for prettier glassware, so around this time, wine glass stems became taller. Not only did this look more elegant, but the elongated stems also meant that it was easier for people to hold their wine glasses without affecting the temperature of the wine in the goblet portion of the glass. Many of these wine glasses had a much smaller capacity than they would today; this may have been due to a tax on glass in England during the 1700s through the mid-1800s. Industrialization also allowed for the manufacturing of larger wine glass sizes. Today, wine glasses come in a variety of shapes and sizes and each of these is tailored to enhance the experience of consuming a specific type of wine. Different types of glass are also used to make them; for example, lead-free glass has gained popularity in recent years for health reasons.