If you query your search engine for information about stainless steel and wine, you will be fed a staggering amount of results and information. Many of these will be stainless steel products/accessories for the average wine customer (e.g. coolers, drinking vessels, etc). You will also encounter numerous blogs and forum posts inquiring about the suitability of stainless steel as a material interacting with wine.
For instance, the top four questions on the “People also ask” section at the top of Google’s results today were:
- Does wine interact with stainless steel?
- Is it okay to store wine in stainless steel?
- Can you drink wine out of a stainless steel cup?
- What does stainless steel do for wine?
So, let’s answer those quotations and discuss the relationship between wine and stainless steel here.
Q: Does wine interact with stainless steel?
A: Nope!
Q: Is it okay to store wine in stainless steel?
A: Yup! Not only is it okay, it is common procedure.
Q: Can you drink wine out of a stainless steel cup?
A: I don’t know, can you? Just kidding, you can. As long as it is food grade stainless steel, sip to your hearts content. We recommend it for white or sparkling wines that you’d prefer to enjoy slightly chilled as the steel tends to have that feel.
Q: What does stainless steel do for wine?
A: It gives it a safe, easy-to-clean, and controlled environment to ferment or age. We write about this a lot.
Stainless steel and wine have been partners in production since the 1950s and are virtually a given in the process today. Sure, oak barrels are still in use. Not all winemakers choose to age or store their product in stainless steel. But storing the grapes or freshly pressed juice in stainless steel? Ubiquitous. Blending and bottling out of stainless steel tanks? Commonplace.
A stainless steel wine glass in place of the classic glassware might seem new, flashy, or futuristic on retailers shelves, but stainless steel and wine are old buds. Winemakers have relied on stainless steel for decades, so if you’re looking for stemware that is safe around even your clumsiest friends…maybe it’s time you try stainless steel in your own home.