BowlIts size and shape change from one kind of glass to another.
StemHeld here, a hand does not warm what is in the glass.
Foot (base)A flat, round piece that keeps the glass steady on the table.
RimThe uppermost part of the glass, where the bowl ends.
Glass shapes 6
Red wine glassA rounder, wider bowl and a wide opening.
White wine glassA smaller bowl and a smaller opening than the red wine glass.
FluteFor sparkling wine: the narrow bowl keeps the bubbles longer.
CoupeA saucer-shaped glass, also used for sparkling wine.
Sherry glassA small glass that tapers toward the rim.
Stemless glassIt has no stem and no foot; some call it a tumbler.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where both sources use it: Wikipedia, text only: Wine glass, Stemware and Champagne glass (bowl, stem and foot as the three parts of a stemmed glass; rim; red and white wine glasses; champagne flute and coupe; sherry glass; stemless glasses, tumblers), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_glass, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stemware, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_glass; and WebstaurantStore, Types of Wine Glasses (a restaurant supply trade guide with a 'Parts of a Wine Glass' section) (base, stem, bowl and rim; red, white, flute, coupe, sherry and stemless glasses), https://www.webstaurantstore.com/guide/580/types-of-wine-glasses.html. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's glass, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
A stemmed wine glass has four named parts: the rim, the bowl, the stem and the foot. The second drawing lines up six glass shapes for a table-setting or hospitality class.
Read the full guide
From the rim down
The rim is the top edge, round the opening. Below it the bowl holds the drink. The stem is the thin upright you hold, and the foot, also called the base, is the flat disc the glass stands on. In the second drawing, tell the shapes apart by the bowl: round and wide for red wine, smaller and more upright for white, tall and narrow for the flute, broad and shallow for the coupe.
Rim and bowl are easy to swap: the rim is only the edge, the bowl is everything that holds the drink.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a wine glass called?
From the top: the rim, the bowl, the stem and the foot. Some guides call the foot the base. A stemless glass has only the rim and the bowl.
Why does a wine glass have a stem?
The stem gives a hand somewhere to hold the glass away from the bowl, so the hand does not warm what is in it.
What is the bottom of a wine glass called?
The foot, or base: the flat, round piece under the stem that keeps the glass steady on the table.
What is the difference between a flute and a coupe?
Both are stemmed glasses for sparkling wine. A flute has a tall, narrow bowl. A coupe has a broad, shallow bowl shaped like a saucer.