My life as a glass snob

We recently signed up for a Riedel stemware tasting. There was a cab sav, pinot noir, chard, and sauvignon blanc with their corresponding Riedel glasses. We had the opportunity to taste the respective wines in a variety of their glasses and a plastic cup normally used when at a beach party. The differences in taste of the same wines in different glasses was extraordinary. All the wines served were top notch, including Peter Michael, Kistler, William Selyem, and Araujo Altagracia. You could taste a Kistler chardonnay in a chard glass and a sauvignon blanc glass and have no idea you are drinking the same wine. It tasted like Kendall Jackson or worse in the plastic cup. Virtually every wine was beautiful in the right glass and off in the improper one.

As a test with lesser wines, the next night at home we opened a cheap 1/2 bottle of chardonnay and tried it in our typical everyday white wine glasses, which after the tasting we now know would be best for sauvignon blanc. The wine tasted very average, which is ok for an uneventful night at home. However, when we then tasted it in a Riedel chard glass, the nose and the flavor were elevated 3 fold.

I know many of our friends consider us insufferable wine geeks. Now that we will be insufferable wine and glass geeks, we will probably have no friends at all. However, we will be comforted with fine wine in the proper glass. Life is good!

At your next dinner party I will happily sub-in for any friend you lose due to your wine snobbery

We tried it at home, and it makes a difference
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I am glass snob also. Great thread! I get annoyed with restaurants serve wine in tumblers, attempting to evoke some misguided notion of a casual Italian cafe. This is especially problematic when the restaurant is aspiring high with their food and seems willing to knock the experience down a notch by ruining the wine experience.

My father was one of the very well known "glass chemists". He was once quoted in the WSJ (years ago) about how corning's current glass offerings sucked and was going to cause him to start his own company for speciality glass, and based on the stock drop they sent the corporate jet for him to "discuss" matters.

One of my 6 year old memories was going through the Steuben glass room and stopping by an artist who was doing a public demonstration. He asked what I thought. My reply of "you didn't heat the glass enough due to the bubbling. Should you have tried a less pure silicate?" Caused an uproar until someone mentioned that Dad was in to talk to corporate and asked if I was his kid. (Yes, I was a jerk)

Now, the point of this is that I have two sets of the eye glasses Corning gave out only to apprentice glassblowers and artisans "back in the day". During a general tour 25+ years ago I pulled out a set and all heck broke loose. One of the master craftsman was doing a very expensive custom set of wine glasses. He loaned me one saying that he did not believe the difference it made. Considering that the folks there always told me never to drink anything but applejack, and told my father the same (had to do with eyesight and hangovers) the fact that an uneducated palate tasted a difference.....

Yes, while I am not a wine drinker, years ago there were people who understood this.
To this day I do not know who commissioned a special batch of glass that was made into wine goblets by one of the top Steuben artisans, to a tight specification. Back then I was told $1.5k a glass.

I have the opposite problem from Darren72, restaurants serving ordinary wine (even vin ordinaire) in barolo style balloons. Bistro 110 once tried serving us Beaujolais Nouveau in giant goblets.
Tumblers are always wrong, but a nice 6 oz. juice glass works better with lots of pours, not just B-N.

I can have my snobby moments too, though. I'd like my eau de vie in an eau de vie glass.

I have no doubt that chardonnay tastes better sipped from a chardonnay glass, rather than a plastic cup; just as 5:15pm just feels so much more special, when I read it off my new Raymond Weil watch, instead of my office computer screen.

I'm intrigued by the different glasses, but who has the room for multiple pieces of stemware?

Aside from the open space for nosing at the top of the glass, and the open space for swirling at the bottom, what can account for differences in tastes between difference glasses? I would propose that the rim is critical as it channels the flow of wine to parts of the palate that are well-suited to respond to the flavor.

Years ago, at Todd & Holland Tea Merchants, Bill Todd had me try the same tea in several different tea cups. The taste of the tea was different with different cups for reasons that I suspect had nothing to do with either the space at the top or bottom nor the materials used in the construction of the cup.

David Hammond wrote:Aside from the open space for nosing at the top of the glass, and the open space for swirling at the bottom, what can account for differences in tastes between difference glasses? I would propose that the rim is critical as it channels the flow of wine to parts of the palate that are well-suited to respond to the flavor.

Years ago, at Todd & Holland Tea Merchants, Bill Todd had me try the same tea in several different tea cups. The taste of the tea was different with different cups for reasons that I suspect had nothing to do with either the space at the top or bottom nor the materials used in the construction of the cup.

I'm no expert, but I think there are three key elements of a glass design that affect the taste of a wine:
1. The rim + shape of the glass are designed to channel the wine to the right part of the tongue.
2. Different glass shapes allow different amounts of wine to be exposed to the air. Remember when champagne seemed to be commonly served in shallow glasses, rather than flutes? More surface area = more bubbles = champagne that goes flat faster.
3. The various glass shapes also affect how we smell the wine, which influences taste.

chgoeditor wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Aside from the open space for nosing at the top of the glass, and the open space for swirling at the bottom, what can account for differences in tastes between difference glasses? I would propose that the rim is critical as it channels the flow of wine to parts of the palate that are well-suited to respond to the flavor.

Years ago, at Todd & Holland Tea Merchants, Bill Todd had me try the same tea in several different tea cups. The taste of the tea was different with different cups for reasons that I suspect had nothing to do with either the space at the top or bottom nor the materials used in the construction of the cup.

I'm no expert, but I think there are three key elements of a glass design that affect the taste of a wine:
1. The rim + shape of the glass are designed to channel the wine to the right part of the tongue.
2. Different glass shapes allow different amounts of wine to be exposed to the air. Remember when champagne seemed to be commonly served in shallow glasses, rather than flutes? More surface area = more bubbles = champagne that goes flat faster.
3. The various glass shapes also affect how we smell the wine, which influences taste.

I believe we're saying the same things, right?

David Hammond wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Aside from the open space for nosing at the top of the glass, and the open space for swirling at the bottom, what can account for differences in tastes between difference glasses? I would propose that the rim is critical as it channels the flow of wine to parts of the palate that are well-suited to respond to the flavor.

Years ago, at Todd & Holland Tea Merchants, Bill Todd had me try the same tea in several different tea cups. The taste of the tea was different with different cups for reasons that I suspect had nothing to do with either the space at the top or bottom nor the materials used in the construction of the cup.

I'm no expert, but I think there are three key elements of a glass design that affect the taste of a wine:
1. The rim + shape of the glass are designed to channel the wine to the right part of the tongue.
2. Different glass shapes allow different amounts of wine to be exposed to the air. Remember when champagne seemed to be commonly served in shallow glasses, rather than flutes? More surface area = more bubbles = champagne that goes flat faster.
3. The various glass shapes also affect how we smell the wine, which influences taste.

I believe we're saying the same things, right?

LOL...#2 was my addition. I just added it in a verbose way!

And about those shallow glasses, or coupes, have you noticed how they're making a comeback? They look kind of cool, but I prefer flutes for champagne as they tend, as you say, to minimize bubble loss and (not to sound too ridiculous but) they're easier to hold.

David Hammond wrote:And about those shallow glasses, or coupes, have you noticed how they're making a comeback? They look kind of cool, but I prefer flutes for champagne as they tend, as you say, to minimize bubble loss and (not to sound too ridiculous but) they're easier to hold.

I'm a klutz, I'm more likely to spill with the coupes!

With this thread still echoing in my mind, I had an interesting experience last night. My husband made some venison stew, and had me taste it for finishing touches. I decided it could use some pepper and a couple of splashes of wine. I opened the Cotes du Rhone I planned to serve with dinner, one I never had before, and just before I poured it in, I realized I should taste it. I grabbed a spoon, poured the wine, and it was horrible--sweet, thin, flat, like cheap box wine. I then switched out to a Cabernet blend, for the dinner and the stew (BTW, it worked beautifully). After we finished that bottle, and wanted more wine, I went back to the opened CdR, poured it in our proper Riedel glass, and it was delicious! Morals of the story: 1. Pay attention to LTHers, they know their stuff. 2. Don't drink wine from a spoon.

My cousin Dan Spitzer and his wife Jill Reynolds make beautiful practical wine glasses at their company Malfatti Glass in the Hudson River Valley town of Beacon, New York. They are both accomplished artists, Dan worked with Chihuly for a number of years and Jill's work has been featured everywhere from the Museum of Arts and Design in NY to the Microsoft Campus.

We own some of the glasses, love them and yes, they were a gift from Dan and Jill.

Marquis by Waterford Double Old Fashioned glasses

Received a set of four for Christmas and love them. Beautiful clarity, thin rim, nice weight, clean design, good size for on the rocks, a joy to drink from. Not sure this glass could be improved, probably the perfect rocks glass. The best cocktail glasses I have ever had.

Reidel has certainly done an excellent job of marketing thier glassware!
But unless you conduct at least a blind tasting and don't actually consume the wine aka spittoon, your conclusions are subjective at best.
We do have Reidel glassware of the nonconventional style without stems to avoid breakage during parties but that didn't seem to help.
We now use Baccarat as our main wine glass supplier purchasing sets from eBay when the price is right.
The Baccarat are importantly thin and come enough shapes and sizes to suit our requirements.
Only problem is breakage which we and friends encounter!
We also use Baccarat single and double Old Fashion glasses, they are heavy but we haven't broken any yet.
I've purchased some sets of original Steuben large Highball glasses(not the last German production) because they just look so elegant and although heavy, have a great feel to them.-Dick

Hi,

Reidel has a glass to optimize drinking soda pop. Intrigued, though not enough to buy.

Regards,

Thanks to Rene G for helping me locate this.

Gourmet Magazine, 2004 wrote:Studies at major research centers in Europe and the U.S. suggest that Riedel’s claims are, scientifically, nonsense. Starting with the tongue map. “The tongue map? That old saw?” scoffs Linda Bartoshuk when I reach her at her laboratory at the Yale University School of Medicine. Bartoshuk has done landmark studies on how people taste. “No, no. There isn’t any ‘tongue map.’”

Wait a minute: When you sip Pinot Noir from the correct Riedel glass, won’t it maximize the fruit flavors by rushing the wine to the “sweet” zone on the tip of your tongue? When you serve a Chardonnay with too much fruit, won’t the correct glass balance the flavors by directing the wine to the “acid” spots near the middle? “Nope,” Bartoshuk laughs. “It’s wrong.” She and other scientists have proved that you can taste salty, sweet, sour, and bitter everywhere on the tongue where there are taste buds. “Your brain doesn’t care where taste is coming from in your mouth,” Bartoshuk says. “And researchers have known this for thirty years.”

Call Riedel’s glasses graceful. Call them beautiful. Who would argue that a lovely frame doesn’t enhance the enjoyment of a painting? But despite Riedel’s and other companies’ claims—and despite all the anecdotal testimony from wine critics and consumers alike—researchers haven’t found any scientific evidence that a $90 glass makes your wine smell or taste better than a $3 version from Wal-Mart.

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2 ... ered_myths

Cathy2 wrote:Reidel has a glass to optimize drinking soda pop. Intrigued, though not enough to buy.

I, too, would be hesitant to plunk down 20 bucks for a Riedel Coca-Cola glass ill-suited to drinking 7UP and other white sodas.

Riedel kind of sounds like the Beats of glassware

if one wanted to purchase nice stemware/barware locally, where should one shop?