How to hold a Prosecco glass

Clutching a delicate wine glass like a grizzly or pinching the stem of a brandy snifter with a pinky extended could cost you dates, interviews and connections. Keep your cool points and remember the following advice the next time you drink.

The way you carry yourself in social situations says a whole lot about your confidence and intelligence—the same can be said about the way you carry a drink. Whether you realize it or not, clutching a delicate wine glass like a grizzly or pinching the stem of a brandy snifter with a pinky extended can cost you second dates, interviews and business connections. Keep your cool points and remember the following advice the next time you roll up to a bar.

How to Correctly Hold Your Drink

Martini
Sure, the large, teetering bowl of a martini glass is tempting to clutch on to, but hands off, people. Holding chilled cocktails by the bowl warms the contents quicker than intended and therefore an etiquette no-no. If you’re having trouble with the balancing act, it’s perfectly acceptable to use your free hand to sturdy the base from beneath.

Wine
Like a martini, a wine glass should be pinched at the stem so as not to change the temperature of that classy Cabernet.

Brandy
Though most glasses go by the motto “stem always, bowl never,” the brandy snifter is an exception to the rule. This glass is best cupped under the bowl with the steam passing through your middle and ring fingers. Brandy will actually benefit from your hand’s warmth which will help release those iconic aromas.

Whiskey
Depending on the glass you are using, whiskey is another drink that you can allow to interact with the palm of your hand. A classic lowball tumbler is thick and doesn’t need to be treated with as much delicacy as a martini glass.

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Champagne
We prefer our Champagne served in wine glasses, but regardless of whether you are drinking from a flute or a wine glass – holding it by the stem is the way to go. As the evening goes, you’re likely to grab the glass with your hand (we get it, you’re tipsy!), but try to avoid it if you can, as it transfers the heat of your hand to the wine and makes it so much more dull…

Beer
So, beer is a whole science in an of its own – but to make this simple, if you get beer served by the bottle – to impose the least amount of impact on the liquid from your hands, you should try and grab it with just two fingers at the top of the neck. Now, that’s not always practical, fun, or cool looking – so do everything you can to get the proper glass for the beer you’re drinking and pour it respectfully. And if that glass has a stem – work it as a wine glass.

Highball Cocktail
Ok, so this is a tricky one – highball glasses often contain an iced cocktail. Ice being important, and cool temperature being a key to good taste. But the highball glass doesn’t have a handle, so you’re inevitably going to grab it like a baseball bat and start sipping away. So here’s what we’re thinking – if it’s early in the evening, try to handle the glass with just your thumb, index finger and ring finger. This way, the ice doesn’t melt too fast, and you won’t be chugging a sloppy, semi-warm concoction. Later in the night? Up to you, just don’t drop the drink.

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Perhaps the small screen isn’t the best resource for learning the ropes. Because yes, there is a proper way to hold a wine glass—and it matters.

Whether you’re looking to dive deeper into the wine world or fine-tune your skills, here is everything you need to know to hold your next glass of wine like a pro.

How You Hold Your Wine Glass Matters

Before learning how to properly hold your wine glass, it’s important to understand why you do so.

“You don’t buy a really nice car to put cheap wheels on it,” says Cabrales, “You’re not going to get the same drive.”

The same is true for wine. Handling your glass properly helps get the most out of your wine experience for three main reasons:

1. It Preserves the Wine’s Temperature

Your hands—especially your palms—give off heat. Therefore, holding a wine glass with too much skin contact can alter the wine’s temperature, which is critical for bringing out a wine’s intended flavor profile and characteristics.

Determining a wine’s ideal temperature is not an exact science and varies depending on the type of wine. That said, it’s standard to serve white wines at cooler temperatures than red wines. For all wines, it’s key to maintain a proper temperature for as long as possible. In many cases—unless you’re in a cold region and your wine is literally surrounded by frigid air—that means keeping your hands off the glass as much as possible.

2. It Keeps Things Clean

Your hands naturally carry oils. If you’re eating with your fingers, they can also carry grease and other food remains.

“You don’t want those same oils or foods to end up on the bowl of your glass,” Cabrales advises. “It will alter your perception of the wine because you will pick up those aromas as well.”

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In addition to interfering with the wine’s flavor profile, smudges on the glass can also get in the way of sensing the wine’s true color, which—you guessed it—is another metric of enjoying wine.

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Plus, who likes smudges on their pretty crystal drinkware? Be kind to your host, who’s likely responsible for cleaning up post-cocktail hour.

3. It Can Enhance Flavor

Holding a glass properly can make all the difference between a graceful, controlled swirl and staining your favorite pants. And a good swirl is crucial.

Swirling is a key component of the Five S’s of wine tasting that encourages the aeration of wine, which activates its aromatic compounds. That’s super important, since our sense of smell is more responsible than taste in the perception of flavor. When a glass of wine is swirled, the resulting aroma amplifies the drinker’s perception of a wine’s flavor profile.

How to Hold a Traditional Wine Glass

A traditional stemmed wine glass is composed of a bowl (where the wine is poured), a stem (the long, slender bit beneath the bowl) and a base (the flat bit at the bottom).

Of course, there are several different types of wine glasses that are constructed to maximize the enjoyment of specific varietals. Case in point, a wide-bowled glass for Pinot Noir, or a (controversial!) narrow flute for Champagne. But for the sake of this conversation, we’ll refer to traditional wine glasses as any glass with a stem.

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A rule of thumb when it comes to properly holding a traditional wine glass: the less contact with your glass, the better.

“Always by the stem—don’t grab it like you’re grabbing a doorknob,” says Cabrales. Instead, she recommends lifting it gently with your fingers. This helps avoid changes in the wine’s temperature through contact with the bowl and smudgy fingerprints. It also allows for more control when swirling the wine to release its aromas.

Any of the following holds are peachy keen in Cabrales’s book:

1. Thumb and Forefinger

Hold the glass towards the base of the stem, gripping between your thumb and your index finger. The rest of your fingers rest at the base.

2. Pinch at Stem

Clutch the glass towards the bottom of the stem, almost as if you were gripping a mug by its handle.

3. Pinch at Base

Use your thumb and forefinger to grip the glass around where the stem and base meet.

4. Lever at Thumb

A more challenging configuration, hold the glass at its base with your thumb on top and the side of your index finger on the bottom.

How to Hold a Stemless Wine Glass

Stemless wine glasses have all the components of a traditional wine glass, minus the stem.

The structure presents a problem: it’s impossible to avoid touching the bowl. Therefore, these stemless wine glasses are not ideal for tasting. That said, even the pros recognize that sometimes it’s more a matter of getting the job done.

“I try to avoid it as much as possible,” says Cabrales. “But when I’m in the park, I’m for it, you know?”

But don’t clutch it like a baseball. To hold, grasp with your thumb, index finger and middle finger and let your other fingers rest on the base.

Holding the glass closer to the bottom of its base helps minimize any temperature changes to the wine. How? A lower surface area of contact reduces the rate of heat transfer from wine to hand. It also concentrates any smudging on the glass to the bottom, rather than leaving fingerprints around the rim.

Another useful tip is to keep your glass on another surface as much as possible. Remember: The less contact, the better.

Is There a “Best” Way to Hold a Wine Glass?

“I prefer the feel and the weight and the dynamic that I have with a traditional wine glass with a stem,” says Cabrales. “The feel of it is elegant to me. But it’s not to say that it’s the official way to drink wine.”

The “best” approach is to choose what feels most comfortable for you—even if that means taking a note from

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