What?! There really is a methodolgy to cleaning wine glasses that will improve your wine tasting experience.

For a premium wine experience your glasses should not have dust, odors, stains, invisible layers of dried detergent, or previous wines. With the advent of stemless glasses this has never seemed easier--Just pop the glasses into the dishwasher. No! No! No!

If you wash your wine glasses in the dishwasher you must also rinse them by hand in hot water. This will remove soap residue left by the machine. If you wash your dishes by hand you must also give them an extra rinse. When washing wine glasses the less soap used the better.

Many serious wine drinkers use no soap at all. I'll admit I can't do it. I have to use soap in order to 'know' my glasses are clean. It's not always logical, but it's my personal quirk. If you opt to use no soap be certain your hands are clean and oil free. I have a friend who uses a glass sponge that is dedicated to her wine glasses. No soap ever touches the sponge and the sponge is never used on anything except her wine glasses.

You may want to use your wine glasses for other beverages (e.g., water, juice, etc.). Just be certain your glasses are completely clean of any other liquid. This includes water. Heavily chlorinated water can leave a residue that will change the taste of your wine. I use only filtered water to wash my wine glasses. I have friends who keep distilled water just for this purpose. They've been known to take a bottle of water with them to restaurants to rinse suspect wine glasses.

Taking a few extra minutes to properly care for your wine glasses can mean the difference between a quality wine experience and a poor one.