Obama and Xi Jinping drinking wine

WINE TALK
21

There is a reasonably accepted way to hold a fork. There is no “accepted” way, that I know of, to hold a wine glass. Obama is holding his glass, IMO, in a perfectly acceptable way.

Nope, I drink from a glass very much like Obama is holding. I just find it more stable to have the bottom of the bowl resting on my fingers. If you drink from a stemless glass, you’re kind of forced into holding the bowl in the middle, not really an option to do what Obama is doing. I know people who hold their glass only by the stem, some that hold it by the base, and others who use the bowl in some way. It’s all perfectly fine with me :slight_smile:

22

I’m with Alan. And yes, I use stemless at home exclusively.

Can someone explain why the “image” is so bad? Offensive? Suggestive? I’m a bit confused. :astonished:

Edit: and while there is a statistically “normal” way to hold a fork, the abnormal ways aren’t “wrong.” I’d apply the same to a wine glass but to a lesser degree of “normal.”

23

I’ve been practicing balancing the base of the glass on my nose, like a seal, then flipping it up and over to take a sip. Making progress, but not really comfortable enough with this method to go public yet.

24

Alan, I regret to inform you that we need to place you on the waiting list for the upcoming offline. We’ll inform you if a spot opens up.

25

Yes, one of the bottles that I flipped…

Xi Jinping shows the better technique holding the glass…

26

What if I promise to bring out the seal trick early?

27

Couple things…

  1. When you hold the bowl it gets filthy and smudged and you can’t see the color of the wine against a white surface clearly
  2. A filthy smudged bowl is just gross
  3. Holding the bowl with your hand warms up your wine at a rate faster than holding the stem if you are serving wines at a specific temperature that goes out the door
  4. A filthy smudged bowl is just gross
28

One premise behind holding the wine glass by the stem is you keep the exterior of the bowl clean; additionally, the stem is there for a reason besides looking cool. But, I found this on Google for Alan; I think he holds his glass as depicted in the picture on the bottom right (double hand style). neener

29

Those are all correct. For all that it seems like some antiquated artifice, everything about a proper wine glass is designed for function.

Having said that, I realize that many civilians and even a small subset of wine enthusiasts choose to hold the glass like a water glass, and that’s their choice and it doesn’t hurt me any.

30

Who knew?! Actually, I have often held my glass exactly as depicted in the bottom right picture. When you taste in the cellars of producers like Chave, Donnhoff, Roulot, Mugnier, etc., the wines can be a bit cold, and need to be warmed properly to taste [tease.gif]

In all seriousness, I just don’t care enough about how anyone holds their glass to let it bother me. And I wash my hands more than once a week [wow.gif]

31

And you consider yourself a berserker?!?! :wink:

32

If anyone asks why more lurkers don’t post, I will send them to this thread.

33

And I suppose this will lead to universal peace?

34

It’s very difficult to salute while holding the glass by the stem.

35

State Bird dim sum yes to CdP!!

36

There’s this very modern invention in the first world, commonly known as SOAP. You should try it and maybe you won’t have this problem. I’m with Alan, except that I try the seal trick with the plastic wine “glasses” we use for tailgating.

37

Jay, how can you soap/wash the glass in the middle of a drink?

Say you’re eating fried chicken… you’re gonna eat, take a sip of wine, then go soap the outside? :wink:
What Kris is saying is that you smudge the glass so the color is impacted when you are DRINKING. of course after you can wash them.

Also i’ve always heard that the hand will warm up the wine… probably more noticeable on a white wine…
I only hold the bowl with my hand if i find the wine too cold (i.e. just out of a fridge) and i want to warm it up a bit quicker… (so basically intentionally warming it).

38

At a dinner in Hong Kong in September the sommelier was ecstatic when I ordered an older riesling off the list. I think he was in despair over people ordering Bordeaux to pair with the light seafood dishes.

39

While I have spent no time thinking about statistical dominance, there are a few common ways of dining with a fork and it is held very differently - tines up or tines down - depending on which you are using. I find myself using both approaches all the time.

Visiting my sister’s home a few weeks ago I was served wine in a stemless glass. While I will say I would have preferred a glass with a stem, I certainly survived the experience and enjoyed the wine nonetheless.

40

Philistine. [wink.gif]