Glasses 

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in the impact that different glasses have on the taste of a wine, and in particular its aroma. It is of course possible to make too much of this (and be a real bore in the process), but a few years ago we changed the glasses we use in the buyers' tasting room and the improvement was noticed by almost all our team.

To start you will only need one type of glass. It should be clear glass, have a stem to hold it by, include a wide enough bowl in which to swirl your wine, be thin enough to judge the colour, and taper towards the end to concentrate aromas.

As you start a collection, it is usual to serve white wine in slightly smaller glasses than red, and sparkling wine in tapered flutes whose elongated shape protects the delicate fizz. Other glasses to that can come in handy include the small, narrow copita traditionally used for sherry.

On another level of complexity again there is the cult of the super-expensive wine glasses tailored towards a specific wine, which is being led by the Austrian producer Riedel. Riedel's famous handmade Sommelier range was the first to develop different glasses to match different wine styles and grape varieties. They are fantastic, paper-thin glasses that do genuinely enhance the enjoyment of wine, but are also enormously expensive. The machine-made Vinum range is a more affordable alternative - expect to pay between £10 and £20 per glass. You'll need to wash them up very, very carefully!

Indeed, your glasses will need to be clean, and this means properly clean. Traces of detergents will taint delicate wines and cause particular problems for sparkling wines, killing the bubble.