Went to a Riedel tasting 'seminar' last night

[Jenise]

I'm already a member of the choir--at least that which understands that shape and volumn make a significant difference in the way wine smells and tastes--and so I own a number of glasses. Now I don't go so far as to buy a zinfandel glass only for zinfandel or anything quite that extreme, but I do have four 42" cabinets full of glassware picked up over the years, some of which is lonely from disuse as over time we have found ourselves reaching for the same three or four shapes that seem to best suit most of the wines we drink.

So I wasn't expecting any epiphanies, but I wanted to see how they teach the method. There are people who come to our neighborhood tastings with those horrible Libby tulip shaped glasses--and I've wondered if sometime I shouldn't pack up a bunch of glasses to loan them for the evening and see if the comparison makes any difference. Have to admit this morning, in thinking that over, the answer is 'probably not'. That is, they'd get it, and they'd be impressed, and they'd sure use the glasses if they were free, but their standards would not be forever changed (as mine were, back when) and most wouldn't pay for the upgrade.

Anyway, I love this topic so it was interesting even if I didn't need convincing. Watching everyone else go through what we discovered ourselves long before (not because we'd discovered Riedel yet but because we had so much mismatched glassware) was fairly impressive. We went with two other couples, of which the guy half of one stated that he has always hated oaky chardonnays but the chard glass worked so well for him he ordered a couple bottles of the chardonnay at the end of the night--and nothing else!

One thing I 'learned' that I didn't already understand is that the shape is intended to place each wine in a different area of your palate. Which sounds very whacky. To me, the difference has always been about the impact shape has on aroma and where that leads in taste.

Anyway, well worth doing even when you think you know a thing or two.

And oh yeah--now we have eight more wine glasses (a set of four was included in the cost of admission).

I too went to one of those seminars, hosted by Georg Riedel.

Very persuasive, you go in a sceptic and come out a believer.... for a while

But I'm a cynic and although I like the glasses, I wonder why, if they are so varietally specific and designed to deliver the wine in the exact correct position in the mouth, the shapes of the glasses aren't the same in the different ranges owned by Riedel.

I too went to one of those seminars, hosted by Georg Riedel.

Very persuasive, you go in a sceptic and come out a believer.... for a while

But I'm a cynic and although I like the glasses, I wonder why, if they are so varietally specific and designed to deliver the wine in the exact correct position in the mouth, the shapes of the glasses aren't the same in the different ranges owned by Riedel.

Talk about skepticism (or scepticism over the pond).

I'm willing to accept that the glasses may be superior and that they do a great job working with aroma, but I find specious the sales line that a glass shape directs a particular varietal wine to the correct location in the mouth--unless every varietal wine is produced exactly the same way and of course without any blending, and unless every mouth is the same.

[David M. Bueker]

Thomas - you have hit on a new marketing opportunity: glasses to fit each specific wine, and each taster's palate!

My “wine enjoyment epiphany” came to me when I learned how to swish, swoosh, and chew wine in my mouth while drawing in a small amount of air without making a total fool of myself. This took a lot of practice!

Salute

[Jenise]

I'm willing to accept that the glasses may be superior and that they do a great job working with aroma, but I find specious the sales line that a glass shape directs a particular varietal wine to the correct location in the mouth--unless every varietal wine is produced exactly the same way and of course without any blending, and unless every mouth is the same.

Yeah, I found that claim pretty outlandish.

Btw, one of the freebies people got if they doubled-down and bought a second set, in addition to a list of which variety to drink out of which glass was a Vintage chart--this tells you what vintages to drink out of which glasses! There's no problem you can't solve with Riedel!

I still need to practice on the swish, swoosh, chew in the mouth, and suck in air without accidentally spitting the wine out!

[Jenise]

I still need to practice on the swish, swoosh, chew in the mouth, and suck in air without accidentally spitting the wine out!

I've given up. Can't do it without dribbling.

Every time I chew on a Syrah I break a tooth!

I still need to practice on the swish, swoosh, chew in the mouth, and suck in air without accidentally spitting the wine out!

I've given up. Can't do it without dribbling.

But I'm sure you dribble in the classic manner, very important.

Swirling, swooshing and sucking air is important, and it does take a lot of practice.

One moment I will always treasure was an afternoon in the garden of the Drouhin home, wherein a quite insufferable and pretentious New Yorker wearing a white three-piece suit a la Tom Wolfe (and with white shoes, of course) was standing in all his dandiness when the person across from him did everything right but the sucking air part. Choked and sprayed a fine, fine mist of red wine all over the front of his suit. All three pieces of it.

As to the Riedel, I buy it to a certain point---they are truly beautifully designed and well-crafted glassware and do make a difference---but this one glass-one wine-one mouth thing goes too far. I end up being happy with the Riedel Sommelier usually.

Swirling, swooshing and sucking air is important, and it does take a lot of practice.

One moment I will always treasure was an afternoon in the garden of the Drouhin home, wherein a quite unsufferable and pretentious New Yorker wearing a white three-piece suit a la Tom Wolfe (and with white shoes, of course) was standing in all his dandiness when the person across from him did everything right but the sucking air part. Choked and sprayed a fine, fine mist of red wine all over the front of his suit. All three pieces of it.

I love that story. Your NY dandy would certainly have scored a high ACI, which Robin posted about a few days ago.

I am content with Riedel Vinum Syrah for all "important" reds and their Chardonnay for whites. For "everyday" reds I used a coarser glass of similar shape to the Syrah, which breaks very easily.

[Jenise]

I am content with Riedel Vinum Syrah for all "important" reds and their Chardonnay for whites. For "everyday" reds I used a coarser glass of similar shape to the Syrah, which breaks very easily.

According to what I learned the other night, Riedel has yet another line coming out called 'True', if I heard her right. It's close to the Sommelier look but at Vinum pricing.

Tim, have you looked into Riedel's restaurant line? If you have an ITB connection, you can pick those up by the case--they're not coarser, just less spindly on the stem and therefore less inclined to break.