What's in a Glass, Anyway?

One of the things it took me the longest to discover was how using the wrong glass or a 'bad' glass can really make your wine tasting less than enjoyable. I wish I had a friend long ago to share this advice with me when I first started drinking wine.

Think to yourself; how many times have I tasted a wine out, bought a bottle and taken it home, only to find it really undrinkable? Well, I hate to tell you this, but it may very well have been your glassware causing the issue.

Some of you know that our best friends own a wine shop. We were invited a while ago to attend a Riedel glass tasting event. We're good sports for all things wine, so we merrily agreed to check out this glassware phenomenon.

Once at the shop, we met Genevieve the Riedel rep, and were fast friends. She took us on a tour of the glassware, showing us the glasses for each varietal set and explaining the history of this 250 year old company. The wife and I were quite skeptical, as we were sure that we could never have made as large a mistake as she was suggesting we'd made. Drinking good wine out of bad glasses! I'd never heard of such a thing! In the back of our minds we were both thinking about those bottles that we thought were just off once we drank them at home. Surely that couldn't be the reason, right?!

As the wine started to flow, we began to notice a trend. The wine was fantastic in the Riedel stemware, but we figured it should for $20 per stem! Genevieve then had us pour the Silver Oak Cab into what they call a 'joker' glass. This glass would be typical of what most Americans would think of when they think 'wine glass'. the difference was astounding! Such a muting of the nose and flavors. The wine that was just moments before spectacular was now average or mediocre!

My wife and I have been glass snobs ever since! The tasting was such an eye opener for the both of us, we've since filled out our stemware collection with Riedel Vinum for gatherings and our everyday glassware is Riedel O's which are stemless wine glasses with the proper bowl shape and depth such as their stemmed counterparts in the Vinum line. These are the originators of the 'stemless' wine glass, so don't be mistaken by the copycats flooding the market!

So, if you get a hankering, please try out the O's or the Vinum series of Riedel. I can guarantee you will become a believer such as my wife and I have. You'll never drink that good bottle of wine again thinking you must have a corked bottle.

Check out the entire line of Riedel stemware, glassware and decanters at Riedel. You certainly won't be sorry if you do. They have changed this skeptic into a lifelong enthusiast and fan.

Cheers!