Georg Riedel wasn’t kidding when he said “I’m here to complicate your wine life.” In an almost three hour wine tasting and seminar (followed by an outstanding dinner by Chef’s Expressions which I will write about in another post) at the beautiful Gramercy Mansion, the 10th generation glassmaker from Austria transformed me from a skeptic, to a supporter, to an all-out believer that high-quality, “proper” stemware makes a difference.

Background

To start, I must digress. I have always impressed the idea upon my friends that the shape of glassware is important for some wines. The staff at Sotto Sopra knows that all Barolo and Pinot Noir are to be served in a large, bowl-like glass that focuses the floral and elegant aromas, while Bordeaux, Brunello, and big reds are to be served in a traditional Bordeaux style glass. The reasons for this are many, but mostly it is for their guests to have the proper tools to enjoy the specific wines. A Bordeaux may taste overly tannic in the Pinot glass where as a Barolo served in a Bordeaux style glass risks jeopardizing the beauty in the aromas.

But keep in mind that glassware is just that- a tool that is used to drink your wine. As it’s not necessary to spend $100 on a screwdriver to assemble your new bookshelf, it shouldn’t be necessary to spend more than $10 a glass on good stemware. But necessity and luxury are two different things. And while I won’t say it’s necessary to follow the advice I’m about to give (as I would never say this!), I will say it’s highly recommended as I believe it will help you get the most out of your wine experience.

Wine, as you may know, has been made for 7000 years, glassware for more than 2000 years. Yet it wasn’t until Klaus Riedel, Georg’s father, in the 1950’s came up with the idea of thin glass, egg-shaped to capture aroma’s. Only if Klaus knew what he was doing to all of us who just want to drink some good juice. As if we didn’t have enough to think about- mature versus young wine. Oak versus no oak. Malolactic or not. The Riedel family wishes us to be even more confused.

But before we go on berating the Riedel’s for complicating wine, one of life’s simplest pleasures, I offer the following recap of our tasting.

The Tasting

The tasting itself was very well organized. We arrived to a tightly packed room filled with roughly 50 wine enthusiasts and gorgeous stemware, in a class-room like layout. At each seat were 4 Riedel glasses from their Vitis (Latin for “Vine”) line: Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Bordeaux. The Vitis series is Riedel’s tallest line-up: machine blown, seamless, and very appealing visually. Each glass was filled (to about the level as those pictured below) with a wine that the glass is designed for.

The wines in each glass were:

Glass #1 – Joker Glass – Plastic Cup!

Glass 2- Montrachet/Chard Glass: 2006 Clos Pegase Chardonnay Mitsuko Vineyard, Carneros

Glass 3- Riesling glass: 2007 Mount Nelson Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough

Glass A- Pinot Noir glass: 2006 Ponzi Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Glass B- Cabernet Glass: 2005 Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap Vineyard, Napa

Our seminar began with a brief overview of the Riedel company. Georg, a 10th generation glassman, explained that it was his father, Klaus, who revolutionized stemware. His vision and implementation of a more “egg-shaped” style glass allowed for better appreciation of the aromas, taste, and textures of fine wines. Further, the move to thin-shelled glasses provided a better weight and balance to the glass.

While rather reserved and relaxed in his demeanor, Georg has a very comedic yet sometimes serious tone. At one point when he asked two women repeatedly to follow th order of the tasting (they were drinking the wines and not paying attention), he threatened (with a serious yet slightly humorous tone) to leave if they were not going to participate in the learning! Once everyone was on board, a really genuine and informative experience followed.

Wine 1: Sauvignon Blanc: Georg first instructed us to pick up glass number 3, the Riesling glass, and to give it a swirl and take in the aroma’s. My notes on this wine were “grass, a slight sweaty aroma, crushed rock and tropical fruits” (I nailed it as a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc!). In the proper stem, the wine was aromatic and minerality, with good balance both on the nose and the palate. When tasted out of Glass 1, or the plastic cup, the wine had little aroma and tasted very acidic and flat.

We also tasted the Sauvignon Blanc in glass 2, the Chardonnay stem. Here the Sauvignon Blanc had a similar profile on the nose as in the Riesling Glass, but really suffered from too much acidity. I was amazed by the difference in the level of acidity between the Suavignon Blanc in the Riesling glass versus the Chardonnay glass.

I was slowly becoming convinced. But as a skeptic it takes a little more than enhanced acidity to change my views!

Wine 2: Chardonnay. Moving to the Chardonnay stem (Glass 2), which Georg referred to as the “enemy to all red wines” and an “insult to drink a red wine in that stem”, I noted a medium-pale, straw colored hue. On the nose the wine showed beautiful fresh fruit, with a touch of vanilla/oak, spice, apple, and mineral. Yet, when this same wine was poured into the Riesling glass the oak was really subdued and the wine tasted much more lean with more alcohol coming through. Georg explained that the wider opening of the Chardonnay glass allows for more slow flow of the wine to the front of the palate which allows the acidity and minerality to balance the alcohol and fruit in the Chardonnay. Whether or not this was the case, the wine was much more balanced in the Chardonnay Stem as compared to the Riesling stem.

Again, the plastic cup (Glass 1- Joker) basically destroyed the wine’s nose, while on the palate it tasted a bit flat though still recognizable as a Chardonnay.

At this point I jotted in my notebook “obvious difference between shape of stemware.”

Wine 3: Pinot Noir. Based on my experience with Pinot, I expected this wine to perform the most different between stems. We begin with a sniff, then taste from the Vitis Pinot Noir stem (Glass “A”). The glass itself is gorgeous. It’s curvy, sleek and rather artistic. The shape is designed to focus the aroma’s of the Pinot Noir while allowing room for the wine to open up. In the Pinot Noir glass , the wine showed cherry, plum, licorice, earth and some sweetness. On the palate, the wine was well rounded, with concentrated fruit, a touch of spice and a great finish. This stem was a lot of fun to drink from- the wine really flowed well in the glass and hits the palate with finesse.

In the Chardonnay glass, we were supposed to get more of the acidity and the wine should have been slightly off-balance. While there was a subtle difference, overall I thikn this glass would work fine with the Pinot Noir. That said, if given the choice I’d stick with the Pinot glass.

In the Riesling glass I noted that the wine showed better than in the Chardonnay glass as far as balance on the palate was concerned, but the nose was much more closed. In the plastic cup the wine was once again flat and boring.

In the Cabernet glass, the Pinot Noir was less aromatic, once again. Also, a bit of a rough edge came out but I’m not sure how much the enjoyment of hte wine was affected by this as it was rather subtle.

Overall I must admit the Pinot Noir showed the best in the proper stemware. That said, I think the Riesling glass would have been a good substitute though I’d pour less volume into the glass to allow for more headspace and nuances on the nose.

Wine 4: Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the four stems we tasted from, the Cabernet glass (Glass “B”) was the most simple as far as aesthetics are concerned. While the Pinot and Chardonnay glasses are curvy and sexy, the Cabernet glass is the most typical shape. But, as far as functionality is concerned, this glass did make a difference for the Cabernet , especially when it came to tannins. Georg explained that the purpose of the shape of this stem was to manage the tannins in the wine. Although the Pinot Noir stem has the same overall area and opening diameter, the slight difference in shape made a big difference.

The Cabernet in its appropriate stem showed cassis, blackberry, dark raspberry, chocolate, and soft tannins. The chocolate note was very noticable in this stem, whereas it was almost absent when poured into the Pinot Noir stem. Also, the tannins of the Cabernet seemed a bit more harsh when tasted from the Pinot stem. The same went for the Chardonnay stem- the nose was missing a lot of the secondary aroma’s and the palate was a bit off balance. I must admit though that the Riesling stem once again worked well with this wine- while not as aromatic, it did focus many of the aroma’s and the wine was more balanced than either of the Burgundy stems.

Photo by: PhotographyByAlexander.com

The Verdict

As Georg noted many times, “You don’t taste great wines, you feel them.” The wines when tasted from the Vitis lineup in the proper stemware did have a great feel to them. Visually, aromatically, texturally, and on the palate. The glasses even sounded great when we toasted one another!

For those who really love wine and are looking to enhance the wine experience, the Riedel Vitis series offers great combination of quality and price. The tall, stemless glass is sexy, graceful and well balanced in the hand. The wine swirls with finesse around the bowl, releasing all the aroma’s you want out of the wine while in the best case, hiding those you don’t. When you take a sip of wine, it falls gently from the glass to your palate allowing for capture of the textures and weight of the wine. The stemware makes drinking a good wine a great experience. And when it comes down to it, that’s what the wine is all bout…the experience.

If you have the money to spend on a set, I’d recommend all of the glasses I tasted from (comes in a really nice gift set with carrying case: Riedel Vitis Tasting Set, Gift Boxed).

That said, you could get away with just having the Riesling glasses and the Pinot Noir glasses. A set (two) of each will cost you around $70 and is well worth that. Note that the glassware is quite delicate and must be hand rinsed- so it’s not recommended for large parties or backyard BBQ’s.

As with all things “wine”, my opinion is just that, an opinion. You may find that the shape, size, and elegance of the stemware doesn’t make a difference and who am I to argue you’re wrong? But before you rule it out, I challenge you to get some friends together and head out to a restaurant that has the Vitis (or other) lineup- ask the server to bring a few of each glass to the table and try a few different wines in the manner similar to what we did with Georg. I feel quite certain you will notice a substantial difference between the Vitis stemware and those of a generic shape and style.

So it seems that the Riedel family isn’t out to complicate our wine lives- they are out to enhance it. With the proper stemware of outstanding quality, a good wine may become a great wine.

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