Gifts of Taste : Raise a Glass

Two glasses of wine were set down before us. Both contained the same wine, poured from the same bottle. A wine-loving friend and I sniffed both and agreed that the second glass was better. It was an excellent Pinot Noir, with an aroma generously hinting of cherry, strawberry, cinnamon and nutmeg. The first glass wasn’t actually dissimilar, but it lacked something. The aroma had none of the depth, nuance or aromatics we both tasted in the second glass.

Then came revelation: The first glass was a standard U-shaped molded glass with a wide lip, the kind usually found in restaurants. The second, made by Riedel of Austria, was a tight-lipped shape called the Vinum Burgundy, designed specifically to enhance the qualities of Pinot Noir.

Can the mere shape of a wine glass improve the aroma of a wine? Yes and no. It depends on what you want out of a wine. If you buy $1.99 specials from the close-out bin at the local supermarket, nothing will help it. Chill it and pray.

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If, on the other hand, you care a lot about the subtle aroma of good wine, the Riedel vs. the mustard jar test is astonishing--at least for the aroma.

I was a skeptic when Georg Riedel first offered the challenge of his glasses competing against standard glasses. He said he’d bring the wine. I crossed him up: I brought a wine from my cellar, one I knew well. He poured the wine into two glasses. One was his Vinum Burgundy, the other a standard restaurant issue. The proof was in the sniffing.

I didn’t think the Riedel glasses improved the actual taste of the wine, although Riedel thinks they do. He says their fine rims distribute the liquid to the palate more precisely. But there was no arguing that the aroma was improved.

Riedel is not the only company to make fine glassware for wine. Literally dozens of others have, including Baccarat, Waterford, Hoya, Christian Dior, Orrefors, Anchor and Libby. Most make attractive stemware, but only a few have succeeded in the area of sensory pleasure the way Riedel has.

The drawback with Riedel glassware is cost. Suggested retail prices for the top-of-the-line Connoisseur crystal stemware run between $45 and $80 each, though some “seconds” are sold at about half price. Riedel’s Vinum line averages $20 each, but most wine shops discount them to $15 or even less.

Of course, it is possible for a wine glass to be too accurate. I have found that the glasses called Les Impitoyables, though attractive to look at, accentuate flaws as well as benefits in wine, not something I’m eager to do at the dinner table. (At a blind tasting, that might be a benefit.) Moreover, because of their small, tight rim, Les Impitoyables require you to tilt your head so far back there may be a danger in tipping your chair completely over.

A few companies have made knockoffs of these Riedels; these run about $25 for a set of four. They are machine-blown, serviceable and attractive. Finding them is best done by a call to various wine catalogue services.

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Wine lovers like nothing better than another set of four or six glasses that work with different types of wine. Over the decades, certain glasses have become associated with certain wines. Here are a few examples:

* Champagne. Bubbly is traditionally served in the straight-sided, point-bottom glass called a flute. It is considered gauche to serve sparkling wine in flat, saucer-like coupes. They are easy to spill and the bubbles escape too quickly.

* White Burgundy/Chardonnay. The most widely accepted glass for Chardonnay is a medium-sized, medium-height glass that holds about 15 to 20 ounces.

* Bordeaux/Cabernet Sauvignon. A tall, broad-middle, wide-mouthed tulip often is used, but any larger glass is appropriate. This also works well with Barolo. Generally choose something that holds 22 ounces or so.

* Burgundy/Pinot Noir. The large, rounded bowl called a balloon once was considered classic for Burgundy. The Bacchus by Baccarat is a lovely 32-ounce balloon with a very narrow rim that some feel is great for Burgundy. But at $195 each, it is hardly something to acquire by the dozen. Riedel’s Vinum Burgundy, since copied by others, is a superb glass, both attractive and wonderful for the wine. It has a huge bowl and a smaller opening at the top than most glasses, allowing the wine to be swirled well, mixing air and wine esters to show off aroma best. This is the glass that most improved the Pinot Noir we tested. It holds 24 ounces and retails for $18 each, though often discounted to about $15.

* Zinfandel/Chianti. There is no single, widely accepted glass for these wines, though Riedel recently released a glass that is intended for both. They are tall tulips with a capacity sufficiently large to swirl the wine.

* Sherry. My favorite glass is the Spanish copa , slightly smaller than a flute with a rounded bottom, but the copa is difficult to find in this country. The copita , a Spanish bar glass, is the name used for a smaller, similarly shaped glass that is easier to find here. It is elegant to serve Sherry in copitas alongside a hot soup on a cold evening.

* Riesling/Gewurztraminer. There is no single traditional glass for these wines, though German hock glasses (squat, round-bowled, green-stemmed) appear in books. These so-called Romer glasses are modeled after ancient Roman glasses. I prefer a tall, small-bowled glass that may be held at the base of the stem, so the warmth of the hand doesn’t warm the wine too rapidly. Riedel’s version of a Riesling glass, designed for young white wine, is smaller than a white Burgundy glass, with a rim that flanges very slightly out at the lip.

* Port. The traditional tiny V-shaped glass used by restaurants is awful and a rip-off, based on how much wine you get (not much). A smaller red wine glass (such as the previous one) seems best. Also good is the standard INAO glass.

* Brandy/Cognac. Tradition says the best glass is a squat, wide-bowled snifter. I prefer a copa or a standard (8-ounce) tasting-room glass. Too much surface area in the snifter gives you too strong a hit of the alcohol. Waterford and Royal Edinburgh make a traditional thistle shape--a small chimney--that also works well here.

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The foregoing aside, one basic glass can easily serve for a multi-wine dinner. Setting the dinner table with six or even glasses per person is impressive, but unnecessary. Any good all-purpose tulip-shaped glass will work fine with any wine.

Although there is no single “perfect” wine glass for all purposes, the one that seems to have the widest appeal in winery tasting rooms, and the one that may be found in the most locations, is the INAO glass.

Wineries I spoke with say the INAO glass is relatively inexpensive (about $4 each), small enough to fit into the top rack of most dishwashers and sturdy enough not to break if treated a bit roughly. And when wine is poured only to the center of the bottom curve in the glass, even poor swirlers don’t have to worry about messing up their shirts.