Whenever friends and family come to visit there is usually an opportunity to share my passion for wine with them. Sometimes it is as simple as Pulling The Cork on a wine I think they will enjoy but might never try on their own. Other times we actually go through a guided tasting of some sort. Almost every time I get the same comment followed by the same question:
Wow, you have a lot of wine glasses! and,
Why are their different glasses for the different wines and does it really make a difference?
I do guided corporate and private wine tasting events so it is true I own a lot of wine glasses. I also tell them that the glass and its style really do make a difference and perform mini experiments of my own to prove it.
I know there is controversy all over the world of wine, the wine blogosphere, many wine forums and Twitter on this topic but I believe that the container from where you drink your wine is important.
Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 recently talked about this very issue in Wine and Plastic Cups over on Serious Eats. Among many good thoughts and suggestions here is the money quote from Deb:
I knew in a vague way that serving wine in proper glasses mattered. But I had no idea how much until Georg Riedel led more than a hundred of us through a tasting this spring at the Hospice du Rhône event in Paso Robles. We tasted some pretty superb wine in everything from plastic cups to hand blown lead crystal. The results were convincing: what you put your wine into matters as much as the wine itself.
Take the 2005 E. Guigal Saint Joseph Syrah as an example. In a plastic cup, this $26 bottle of wine tasted like Welch's grape juice. In a glass specially shaped to accentuate Pinot Noir's aromas and flavors, it tasted very alcoholic and acidic, with a roughness in the mouth that was unpleasant. In a glass Riedel made for Syrah, however, the wine smelled of red and black fruits and chocolate, and was as smooth as satin in your mouth.
The comment section below her post, as of this writing, is 37 deep and the responses are varied and passionate on both sides of the issue.
Though I never attended a tasting with Georg Riedel my experience with drinking wine out of many different containers mirror images Deb's experience. There are glasses made for specific varietals of wine and, after years of skepticism, I gave in and experimented with the varietal specific glasses. To my surprise it made a difference in almost every facet of the wines showing and in my appreciation for the subtle nuance each wine offers. I don't own glasses for every varietal but I do own the correct glasses for the majority of wines in my cellar, the wines I like to drink and some good general glasses that work for just about anything in a pinch.
Anyway, I just wanted to point everyone in the direction of Deb's great posting because it is an interesting and often talked about topic. In my opinion and experience what's in the glass should be enhanced by the glass itself - the glass and style of glass matter!
What do you think?
Do you have any experience with trying wine from different glassware, plastic ware, jugs, direct from the bottle or in your hands?
Do the varietal specific glasses enhance the tasting experience and accentuate the wine, as Deb and I believe, or is it all bunk?
