Are Varietal-Specific Wine Glasses Worth It?
Posted on October 29, 2007 by Her and tagged food, hobbies
photo: slack12
We have an expensive hobby - wine. We have spent a lot of money on fine wines, sometimes bringing back a bottle as a souvenir from a trip. But so far, we haven't invested in any expensive wine glasses. We have a pretty set of balloon glasses we got a s a gift, and we have a few white wine glasses we picked up at Crate & Barrel. We also have a couple random souvenir glasses we got at wineries. As we were registering for wedding gifts, I wanted to register for cut crystal glasses, and Him wanted to register for the plainer-looking varietal-specific glasses, like those made by Riedel. I was adamant that the varietal-specific glasses were a marketing ploy designed only to sell more glasses to pretentious oenophiles. Then recently, I was forced to change my opinion.
Riedel offers a traveling tasting class where you can taste four varietals in six different glasses: 4 different varietal-specific Riedel glasses, a cheap bistro glass, and a plastic cup. They offer this class all around the world, and for $75 you get the wine tasting plus four Riedel glasses. We decided to take the challenge and signed up.
The class was amazing, and totally changed my opinion about the varietal-specific glasses! The glasses are designed to allow a specific amount of exposure to air, and the shape of the rim directs the wine onto a specific part of your tongue, which changes the way you perceive the characteristics of the wine. Over and over again, each wine proved to taste and smell best in the varietal-specific glass! I was stunned. An expensive glass can improve a cheap wine, and a cheap glass can mute an expensive wine. (Of course, there exist wonderful cheap wines and terrible expensive wines as well.)
Now we have to decide if we want to spend our hobby budget on wine or glasses!
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Wash DC | Oct 29, 2007
Actually, Gourmet mag did a piece on this in 2006. They reported the findings of scientific study that tested whether or not people could blindly i.d. differences in wine in different glasses. They found that it had absolutely no effect. It's the power of persuasion and marketing. That doesn't mean that a certain general shape isn't better for a red vs. white. vs. sparkling, but the varietal specific differences don't pan out in the study.
My husband and I are big oenophiles as well. However, while I do think that varietal specific glasses enhance the experience, I would recommend choosing a white and a red, and getting a complete set of each.
For instance, we registered for crystal Riedel stemware, and got a set of the Chardonnay and a set of the Shiraz versions. You can always add more down the road, but you don't need them all to start.
We bought Spiegelau Vino Grande glasses and really liked them. They're less expensive than Riedel glasses but I don't think there's any difference. Or if there are, we wouldn't know. :)
Wine tastes crappy to me no matter how it is served :( Maybe one day I'll find the combination that changes my life.
That said, my wife and I are satisfied with the Waterford Crystal we got as a honeymoon bonus.
My biggest weakness is good wine. I'm a total sucker for it. Wash DC cited a study that shows no difference between what you drink wine out of, but I've read a contrary study by an independent party (no bias). Good wine glasses are a worthy investment in my opinion.
That said, I wish I had the money to splurge on them! :-D
Actually, Spiegelau was bought out by Reidel. Why? So that Reidel could control the quality of its "competitors".
I think cut crystal is actually ugly for wine glasses.
I think that varietal specific glasses enhance the flavor of wine and you don't have to be a super oenophile to taste a difference. But I'd stick to reds and whites for an initial investment. For me, I'd love a set of cab glasses since I'll spend more usually on a cab than a merlot and would like to get the most out of it. I like champagne glasses for their prettiness, but I don't think they enhance the flavor so much as give the bubbles a chance to really show off.
Just my silly two cents. I say go with Riedel, but don't get the stemless set. I had a cab in one and I felt like I was holding a softball that was going to slip out of my hand. I ended up asking the bartender to put it in a regular wine glass.
MVP | Nov 1, 2007
I agree with Amanda. As a longtime winery tasting room employee and wine conoisseur, I can say you don't need a ton of options. Just get a good set each for red and white to start with. If you want, later you can expand on that. For example, if you drink sparkling wine twice a week, you may really want to invest in good champagne flutes. We enjoy port-style wines, so we "invested" in some fairly inexpensive port glasses. Also, I'd stay away from cut crystal for wine because it's difficult to judge the color and other qualites of the wine. And for that reason, I'd stay away from anything colored or with designs on it. I don't care for stemless either, because if you're holding the glass for any amount of time, your body temperature will warm the wine.
Meg | Oct 29, 2007
I can agree that varietal-specific glasses enhance the wine experience. But that doesn't mean they have to be expensive!
I've noticed even at Target that they offer a full range of varietal-specific wine glasses (with handy charts and explanations as to which glasses are for which wines). I bought merlot and chardonnay glasses there when I graduated from college. Later I upgraded to chardonnay glasses from Pier One and got cabernet ones there as well (they had very nice delicate glass at Pier One; I was surprised and still LOVE those glasses).
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