Hello. History teacher here, and I've taken a History of Alcohol class so I hope I can help a little. Sources...? I'll try to find some. But the gist of it is that the narrow stemmed wine glass owes its shape, status, and purpose to the ancient Romans. (Either late Republic or early Empire according to Pompeii/Herculaneum artifacts.)
Plebians used cups while patricians preferred goblets which were more expensive. The goblets became narrower overtime and were thus more fragile. Romans would decorate them and put them on display--like we do our fine china. The stemmed goblets would only be used during Saturnalia and, I would assume as we do today, only for the finest wines. http://www.thisdayinwine.com/wine-glass-brief-history/
The skinny goblet style persisted through Charles the Great and was considered an item of royalty during the Middle Ages. There were even a type of fashion police that would arrest peasants or serfs who dressed or bought items above their status. http://www.germaniainternational.com/old7.html
Preindustrial and Industrial Age glassworks bring us to the wine glasses we know today: cupped flutes on a raised stem. Just as it did in Roman times, it references its relationship with wine and high society through its shape. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/28.52a,b
Edited for grammar
Greetings all. Just a reminder to keep responses historic and sourced: when did we start drinking wine out of stemmed bulbous glasses, and how different glass shapes developed/evolved in the past.
Additionally, keep in mind that you are not a source, so do cite reputable sources.
Thanks!
OP: you might consider x-posting this question to a wine or other food/beverage sub if you're interested in current practices.
In Belgium there is a tradition of different breweries having their own signature glass, many of which are stemmed glasses (or even more impractical designs like the one for Kwak.
Was that something that was "made up" by the breweries, or was there already a tradition of beer in stemmed glasses there?
