jamie goode's wine blog: Cleaning glasses

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Cleaning glasses

Clean glasses are really important for enjoying wine. It's not rare to encounter smelly glasses that make it hard to appreciate the aroma of a wine. This is especially common where you are faced with a flight of several glasses: the more glasses are used in a tasting, the harder it is to ensure that they are really clean.

I'm quite obsessional about washing glasses. This is how I do it:

1. I use a cloth and lots of hot soapy water. I know some people don't like using detergent because of worries about residues, but unless you use soap it's hard to get the glass really clean, especially if it is a bit greasy.

2. Then I wash the glass out with lots of hot water. Lots and lots. Soapy glasses kill wine.

3. I don't use mineral water to do a final rinse with, so I have to make sure that the glasses are dried properly. I use a microfibre glass cleaning cloth (here), which does the job really well.

I wouldn't use a dishwasher for wine glasses. I'd also avoid turning them upside down on a cloth to dry them: this can make the rim a bit smelly. It's really worth the effort of washing glasses well before you put them away, because then you can use them without worrying about whether they are going to be smelly or not. If you are in doubt about a glass, a quick rinse with wine primes the glass nicely.

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6 Comments:

At 1:57 AM, Blogger Dan McGrew said...

This is almost exactly as I do, but I do add one final step. I have a small, electric fan that I switch on and after drying the glasses with the cloth I place the bowl in front of the fan for a few seconds.

 
At 8:32 AM, Blogger billn said...

I'm with you apart from one thing - I never use the soap!
Cheers

 
At 9:26 AM, Blogger Paulo Coelho Vaz said...

Good tips!
Thanks

 
At 5:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW! That's fairly anal.

 
At 9:54 PM, Blogger LeBarøn said...

I don't really wash my glasses very often because I always break them when I do! In fact, I broke 2 glasses this week when I wasn't cleaning them! When I do wash them I use Tergazyme by Alconox. This is a lab/medical/food grade cleaning powder that includes protease enzyme. It is very effective and it is odorless. It also is good for cleaning the espresso machine, my wife's diamond ring, and lots of other things.

 
At 11:40 AM, Anonymous Window Cleaning Birmingham said...

How about this then. Instead of using soap, I use white wine vinegar to remove any grease from the glass, then I rinse with loads of hot water to remove the vinegar. After that I use a shammy to buff up the glass. Just like cleaning my car!

 

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