Daily Telegraph: In the July 2018 newsletter I reported on the virtues of drinking wine from a smaller glass, as researchers had found that drinkers consumed up to 40% less alcohol during the course of an evening.
Currently, the government is backing a similar study which recommends thatrestaurants should provide glasses of no more than 250ml to prevent binge drinking. Since the 1990’s wine glasses have doubled
in size. However, restauranteurs and sommeliers said forcing them to use small glasses could destroy the bouquet of fine wines. Daniel Keeling, who runs a wine bar in Holborn, said restaurants would be providing “inappropriate glassware … as aromas
account for most of what’s tasted, great wines need space to be exposed to oxygen to make them more expressive – and a mouth narrower than the widest point of the glass to prevent aromas escaping”.
Emma
Underwood, manager at Darby’s in south
London said: “It should be the guest’s choice. Big bold red wines that haven’t been able to decant long enough certainly benefit from larger glasses.
I can understand how that might contribute to higher consumption, but if a guest wants to drink a lot then they will, regardless of glass size”.
Christopher Snowden, head of lifestyle economics, at the Institute
of Economic Affairs, said: “The idea that wine consumed in restaurants has any significant impact on the number of alcohol-related deaths is just daft. Most people visit restaurants only occasionally – most alcohol is consumed at home. It is a
sign of how out of touch public health campaigners have become that they think the size of wine glasses is a pressing issue that requires government action.”