La Rochere Abeille

Start with whatever you pour most often. The 24 cl wine glass is the classic of the range and works for white wine, rosé and a light red. If you like to pour more generously, the 35 cl wine tasting glass is the better choice, while the 19 cl glass is meant for a small glass with lunch. The 26 cl tumbler is the workhorse for water, juice and soft drinks, and there is a 6 cl version for liqueur or an amuse-bouche. For long drinks there are long drink glasses of 31 cl and 46 cl. Finally, note the finish: alongside clear glass, the tumbler and the wine glass come in colour, and the assorted sets of four mix those colours on the table.

Abeille looks its best on a table where not everything has to match. Pour the wine glass to just below the wide rim, so the relief stays visible and the wine keeps room to breathe. The one-litre carafe is meant for water, or for a young red you let stand for half an hour before pouring.

In summer the range is made for a jug of sangria: fruit, wine and ice in the carafe, poured out over the tumblers. The 15 cl champagne flute is small enough to keep a kir royal cold down to the last sip.

Abeille is pressed soda-lime glass, not crystal. That makes it heavy and thick-walled, and considerably less fragile than a thin-walled bowl on a fine stem. The glasses are dishwasher safe, the coloured ones included, because the colour sits in the glass itself and does not wash out.

The relief does hold limescale more readily than smooth glass, certainly in hard-water areas. So choose a short programme at a moderate temperature and dry afterwards with a linen cloth; the bee motif then stays crisp and the glass keeps its shine.

If you are looking for other ranges from the same glassworks, have a look at La Rochère. If it is mainly colour on the table you want, the coloured glasses overview offers more choice, and for the same nostalgic character in other shapes there are the vintage glasses. If the bee does not suit your tableware, smooth tumbler glasses make a more neutral base. For opening and pouring itself, look at the wine accessories.