RCR Essential

The size of the bowl decides how much air the wine gets. Into the 65 cl you pour a young, tannic red that needs time; thanks to the generous belly more opens up in a quarter of an hour than in a small glass in an hour. The 54 cl is the middle size for riper reds and full white wine from oak. The 43 cl is for crisp white wine and rosé, which you drink cold and therefore pour in smaller measures. The 30 cl flute is roomy for a sparkling glass, which also makes it suitable for sparkling wine you keep going through a longer aperitif.

Never pour past the widest point of the bowl, so you keep room to swirl. For the 65 cl that comes down to about 15 cl of wine. Swirl with the glass on the table, the foot between your fingers; that gives more control than waving it in the air. The 42 cl tumbler is the shape for water alongside the wine and for whisky, for instance in an Old Fashioned over one large ice cube. In the flute you make a Kir Royal by putting the crème de cassis in the bottom and carefully topping it with bubbles.

Essential is made of lead-free crystal glass: harder than ordinary drinking glass, with a thinner rim and more sparkle. The glasses may go in the dishwasher as long as they do not touch each other. Large bowls catch a lot of water on the foot, so place them at an angle or let them drain afterwards with the door slightly open. Polish with a dry cloth if you want to pour spot-free.

To see what else RCR makes, have a look at RCR. If you search by size rather than by series, the roomiest bowls sit with the large wine glasses and you will find the rest with the red wine glasses and the champagne flutes. For young wine you want to let breathe before it goes into the glass, there are the decanters, which increase the contact surface with air even further than the largest bowl.