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168
What Shall We Drink?
Somehow that glass of Port seemed to lose its savor for
me, although I knew it was the best obtainable. The clash
of its tawny-red glory against the green stem was not only
unesthetic, but vulgarly conspicuous.
Gold, silver, filigree and other ornamented stems or feet
should be used also with discrimination.
But I forgot, in this digression, to say that Port Wine
should be served in crystal clear bowls offour-ounce capacity,
surmounting rather sturdier stems than the Sherry glass
boasts.
The Sherry glass should be pipe-stemmed and rise in a
slenderly beautiful cone shape, flaring shghtly at the mouth
to a diameter of not more than three inches.
Larger glasses of the Sherry type are used for Sauterne,
Rhine and Riesling wine should be served in tall-stemmed
Rhine wine glasses either rising in shallow wide cones or in
slender and more tapering cones; or they may be hemi
spheric bowls wide at the mouth. The capacity varies from
five to seven ounces.
Chianti, Claret and similar dry or light red wines, should
be served in medium long-stemmed,five-ounce glasses of the
large tuUp, semi-spheroid or goblet shape, bowls absolutely
unadorned and of clearest crystal,so asto revealthe sparkling
glories of their colors. There is no objection to serving
Sauteme and Graves in these glasses, either.
Brandy should be served preferably in very slender and
small cone-shaped glassestapering gracefullyfrom thestem to
a diameter at top of not more than one and a half inches, or
in small-mouthed,bulging bowl"snifters" with stubbystems.
Old-fashioned cocktails are served in what might best be
termed half-shell types of glasses, rising from a very thick
flat bottom in a slight tapering of its cyUndrical sides. It
stands not higher than four inches from its base.
For cordials or liqueurs, of which never more than an
ounce and a half should be served, small, tapering, stub-
stemmed cylindrical or small cone-shaped Sherry glasses are
used.
Beer glasses, which, of course, do not find place at the
formal dinner with the wines, vary from goblets to shells,