Glass Notes


Lesson No. 1: Reds and Whites


Kent Rosenblum
Photo Courtesy of Riedel Crystal

Do you need glasses?
     Wineglasses come in many shapes and sizes and are manufactured from different levels of materials. Most of us have consumed wine from a variety of containers—jelly jars, water glasses, bota bags, paper cups and a large variety of shaped stemware.
    It is now widely accepted in the wine industry that the size and shape of a glass can materially influence the smell and taste of the wine. This has been the premise
on which several manufacturers—most notably Riedel and Spiegelau, which are both based in Austria—have developed a whole series of glasses for individual varietal wines. Most of these glasses are made in leaded and nonleaded crystal and thus have wavy irregularities in the glass that kind of bounce the wine around when swirled to release the esters (aka the bouquet or smell of the wine).
    A typical Chardonnay glass would have a fairly short bowl that is slightly narrowed at the top and holds about 4 ounces. The typical Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux glass has a very tall bowl that narrows at the top and holds more than 20 ounces. So if the doctor recommended one glass of wine per day, which glass would you choose?
    Tasting a Cabernet in a Chardonnay glass and then out of a Cabernet glass is like having two totally different wines. The large-format glass allows the bouquet to expand with a large amount of air before it spills over the top. The downside of this is that you can make a big mess if the swirling gets too enthusiastic.
    At this point, there are more than 20 different shapes of glasses for individual wines. You can find a glass for Chardonnay, Riesling, Chablis, Pinot Gris, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Chianti, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. A new company, Eish from Germany, has now come out with what they call “breathable glass” in many different shapes. The chemistry of the glass is supposed to aerate the wine 10 times faster than a regular glass. Nobody is telling how it works right now, but we do know that the glass doesn’t leak.
    So what is a dedicated wine drinker to do? A set of all the styles would certainly fill a lot of cupboards, or would one style of glass be OK for all wines? If I had only one glass to choose it would be the Syrah glass from either Riedel or Spiegelau. However, another glass that works well with whites is the Riedel Zinfandel glass, which also does a good job with most reds (except Cabernet and Syrah).
    So maybe the ideal situation is to own two sets of glasses, one for whites and one for reds. You may have to experiment a bit to see which stemware fits your palate, but I think you’ll be amazed at the difference that glass styles can make in the wine. Cheers. 

KENT ROSENBLUM


Rosenblum Cellars founder Kent Rosenblum lives in Alameda and is a veterinarian and vintner. He is president, CEO and director of wine-making at Rosenblum Cellars.