How to hold a wine glass correctly (and why it matters)

There's a simple gesture that no one has ever really explained to you, yet it changes the taste of what you're drinking: how you hold your wine glass. Most people instinctively grab the bowl, as they would a water glass. However, this is not the correct grip, and the reason is more practical than it seems.

No dusty etiquette lessons here: just a simple gesture, a clear explanation of why it matters, and the most common mistakes to correct tonight at dinner.

Observe the next time you are at a set table, wine glasses aligned diagonally in front of each plate: half of the guests will grab their glass by the bowl without even thinking, the other half will do it "correctly" without knowing why. This small guide is for both: for those who want to correct the gesture, and for those who already do it right but would finally like to understand what's behind it.

The right way: holding your glass by the stem

The rule is simple: hold a wine glass by the stem, never by the bowl. The stem is the slender part that connects the base to the flared bowl where the wine rests. This is what you should hold, between your thumb and the first two or three fingers.

Why the stem rather than the bowl

The wine glass was designed with a long stem for a specific reason: to keep the hand away from the liquid. Cupping the bowl with your entire palm turns your hand into a radiator, in direct contact with the wine through the glass. The stem prevents this contact and leaves the wine undisturbed, at the temperature it was served.

It's no coincidence that a water glass or a mug doesn't have such a disproportionately long stem: they have nothing to preserve, neither temperature nor aromas. The stem of a wine glass, on the other hand, addresses a very concrete problem — and that's precisely what makes it recognizable among all the other glasses on the table.

The correct grip, finger by finger

Specifically, here's how to place your hand:

• Thumb and index finger pinch the stem, slightly below the bowl.
• The middle finger lightly supports the base, in a natural resting position.
• The last two fingers curl without force, without trying to "hold" anything.
• The wrist remains flexible: it's what swivels the glass, not the fingers.

At first, the grip seems a little unstable, almost too light. That's normal: a well-balanced wine glass, with a well-proportioned stem, stands perfectly upright even when held with fingertips. This is precisely what should reassure you about the quality of the glass.

There are also stemless wine glasses, more squat, designed for the casualness of a picnic or an impromptu aperitif. In this case, the rule adapts: you hold the bottom of the glass, as far as possible from the wine level, to minimize contact between your hand and the liquid.

Why this detail truly changes the tasting experience

It's not about elegance for elegance's sake. Holding your glass by the stem has two direct and measurable consequences on what you smell and see in your glass.

The heat from your hand warms the wine

A white wine or rosé served chilled warms up very quickly in contact with a palm. In a few minutes, the bowl enveloped by a hand can be enough to make the wine lose its freshness, and with it, part of its aromatic vibrancy. A red wine, served closer to room temperature, is less sensitive to this phenomenon, but the principle remains: the less you touch the bowl, the more the wine remains as the winemaker intended it.

Fingerprints that obscure the color and legs

There's also a purely visual aspect. A bowl covered in fingerprints prevents proper observation of the wine's color — its hue, its clarity — and those famous "legs" that form on the sides when you swirl the glass. A glass held by the stem remains clean, transparent, and lets the wine speak for itself, visually and aromatically.

This is also why we swirl the wine in the glass before smelling it: the movement releases aromas by increasing the contact surface with the air. A gesture much easier to perform when the hand is on the stem, free to rotate the wrist, rather than gripped around the bowl.

The complete gesture: see, smell, taste

Once the correct grip is mastered, the rest follows almost naturally. You raise the glass to eye level to observe the color in the light — easier on a terrace, at the end of the day, when the sun shines obliquely through the wine. Then you swirl it two or three times with a wrist movement, stem firmly held, before bringing it to your nose.

The nose dips slightly into the bowl, without touching the rim: aromas need a little air to fully unfold. Only at the very end comes the short sip, allowing the wine to spread across the entire tongue. None of this is reserved for sommeliers — it's simply more pleasant to do, and more accurate, when the hand doesn't interfere with the wine's appearance or temperature.

Gestures to avoid at the table

A few reflexes, often taken without thinking, deserve to be corrected first.

• Cupping the entire hand around the bowl, as one would with a water glass or a mug — the most common reflex, and the easiest to correct.
• Squeezing the stem too tightly, to the point of stiffening the wrist: the grip should remain light, almost with fingertips.
• Setting the glass down by sliding it on the table rather than lifting it cleanly, which wears down the stem and base over time.
• Filling the glass to the brim, which leaves no space to swirl the wine or capture its aromas with the nose.
• Clinking bowls against each other with too harsh a clash — a clear chime is enough, no need to bang the glasses.
• Passing the glass by the bowl to hand it to someone, rather than by the stem or base — riskier, and often messier.

None of these gestures are serious faults. They are simply habits to unlearn, one by one, until the correct grip becomes the natural reflex. Here, at a glance, is what changes between the common reflex and the correct gesture:

Holding your glass according to what you're drinking

The stem rule remains the same regardless of the wine served, but the shape of the glass — and thus the feel in the hand — changes slightly depending on what it contains.

Red wine, in a large balloon glass

Red wine glasses often have a wider bowl, designed to let the wine breathe. The stem, generally longer, offers a comfortable and stable grip, ideal for swirling the wine effortlessly before smelling it.

White and rosé wine, served chilled

On a white wine glass, the bowl is narrower to concentrate aromas and keep the wine fresh longer. This is precisely where holding the stem makes the biggest difference: the wine's freshness directly depends on the distance between your hand and the liquid.

Sparkling wines and flutes, an identical principle

The same logic applies to a champagne flute: hold it by the stem, never by the body of the glass, to preserve the cold and prevent breaking the bubble formation due to hand warmth.

Do you often entertain without knowing in advance what will be served? A single wine glass, with a bowl neither too wide nor too narrow, remains the simplest choice: it suits both a light red and a fresh white, and the hand gesture never changes from one model to another anyway.

To appreciate these subtleties, you still need a glass with a well-designed stem — thin enough for gripping, stable enough not to spill anything. A poorly proportioned stem, too short or too thick, makes the gesture uncomfortable even when you know the theory by heart: the shape of the glass matters as much as good intentions. This is exactly what we aimed for with our selection of wine glasses. And if you're interested in choosing the glass itself, our article on how to choose your wine glass perfectly complements this guide.

FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions about holding a wine glass