Luigi Bormioli Magnifico

The choice starts with the two wine bowls. The Medium of 46 cl is the all-rounder: roomy enough for red wine, not so large that a glass of white gets lost in it. The Large of 59 cl is meant for full-bodied red wine and for bottles you want to let open up in the glass. The D.O.F. tumbler of 50 cl is a double old fashioned glass, with room for one large block of ice. The flute of 32 cl is more generous than average. Feel free to compare with the red wine glasses and the old fashioned glasses.

Pour the Medium to about 15 cl and the Large to 18 cl, so comfortably below halfway. At that fill you can swirl the glass and the aroma stays in the bowl. The 50 cl tumbler is the size for whisky with ice and for an old fashioned or a negroni on the rocks. One large block melts more slowly than a handful of small cubes and so waters the drink down less quickly.

Magnifico is made of crystalline glass without lead. That is clearer than ordinary soda-lime glass and at the same time harder than classic lead crystal, so it copes better with a machine programme without going dull. The glasses are dishwasher resistant. What causes most damage is not the washing but the unloading: pick a bowl up by the bowl and not by the stem, because that is where the leverage is.

If this series is not the right fit, Luigi Bormioli offers more lines in the same style. If you want a larger bowl for red wine than the 59 cl Large, take a look at the large wine glasses. If you want everything on the table in one go, look at the complete glassware sets. And if you are after a narrower sparkling wine glass than the generous Magnifico flute, those shapes are among the champagne flute glasses.