Bormioli Rocco Florian

The line counts fourteen versions and falls into three groups. The wine glasses come in 38 and 53.5 cl: the 38 cl is the everyday size for white and light red, the 53.5 cl gives red wine enough room to breathe without overfilling the glass. Both in clear and blue, in fours. The champagne glasses split into the coupe at 24 cl, wide and low, and the flute at 21 cl, narrow and tall. There is also a separate Kir Royal flute, with a wider bowl so the cassis mixes in more readily. The tableware consists of a 43 cl long drink glass, a 37.5 cl tumbler and a 24.5 cl cocktail glass.

The blue version is the most sought after, and there is a practical side to that: coloured glass does something to the colour of the drink inside. Water, prosecco and clear cocktails gain from it, but you judge a red wine better in clear glass. So keep the blue bowls for white. The Kir Royal flute is meant for exactly that: a layer of cassis at the bottom, slowly topped up with cold sparkling wine, as with a Kir Royal. The wide coupe is the classic choice for a Bellini, where the peach purée rises from under the wine as soon as you stir.

Florian is made from soda-lime glass rather than crystal glass, and that works in its favour here: less prone to cloudy film and simply dishwasher safe. The blue colour sits in the glass itself and not as a coating on the outside, so it does not wash off. Do keep an eye on the ribs, because a water mark lingers there more readily than on smooth glass. Do not place the stemmed glasses too close together: the bowls are wide and stems mostly break when glasses touch.

If you like the shape but want another range from the same maker, the full assortment is under Bormioli Rocco. If you specifically want a larger bowl for red wine than the 53.5 cl in this line, look at the red wine glasses, where the roomier sizes start. And anyone who actually plans to fill the cocktail glasses from this range will get more out of the cocktail shakers in the long run than out of yet another glass.