Plenty of
thoughts and reflections have crossed my mind over this compressed wine course
and I have learnt so much. As we come to the end of the course, I cannot help
but reflect on the first day of class where we were generously presented with
our very own Gabriel-Glas.
I decided to do
a little more research on the wine glass industry and the perennial question:
Does tasting wine out of a specialized goblet really affect the taste of
the wine?
My original
intuition was that different wine glasses make a huge difference in the
ultimate enjoyment of whichever wine one is drinking. Buying into the marketing
of the wine glass producers, I do believe that different wines require
different shapes of glasses to ensure that you are drinking and tasting wines
at the optimum conditions. I mean, do you really want to drink a glass of
Domaine de la Romanee Conti with an Ikea glass? I want a burgundy wine glass
for my burgundy!
Yet, as I dug a little deeper, I discovered that there is actually a whole body of research and literature that indicated that there is no discernible difference between glasses that could impact wine taste for the average wine consumer!
A key article on
this was written in August 2004, Gourmet by Daniel Zwerdling – Shattered Myths.
I would suggest taking a few moments to read the article unless you belong to
the group below:
“In fact, you might want to stop reading this article if
you’ve gone to a Riedel tasting and left as a convert. Because studies suggest
you’ve been brainwashed.”
Although there
is a huge body of scientific research that categorically state that there is no
difference, I personally still would like to make a case for drinking wine out
of my Gabriel-Glas and/or Riedel. Drinking wine for me requires the romance of
a good wine glass. Where I can, I continually resist drinking out of a sub-par
drinking vessel. I am not advocating drinking different wines from different
glasses all the time. But I would advocate drinking from a well-made glass. Somehow,
drinking from my Barolo from a coffee mug just doesn’t do it for me. Because:
“Riedel and other high-end glasses can make wine taste
better. Because they’re pretty. Because they’re delicate. Because they’re
expensive. Because you expect them to make the wine taste better. And that,
says Brochet, can make all the difference”
Thank you for this article! I have always wondered the same thing, and tried to learn more about it when we were introduced to the Gabriel Glas, but didn't really feel that I was given a technical answer. To some extent, I will absolutely buy into the fact that drinking from plastic versus glass versus crystal is different (just as I think that a movie filmed on film versus digitally is a different experience) even if it's marginal. Part of the joy of wine is the experience, and it makes no sense to have an oxymoron one with expensive wine and a cheap glass. This sort of relates to my post about wine versus beer, because the tradition and specificity of wine drinking is not sometimes easily accessible. To "take it seriously" is equated with extravagant spending on pricey bottles and fancy stemware. Beer is straight out of the bottle, or certain glasses, but nothing too terribly extravagant and inaccessible. When one Baccarat wine glass can cost $250, we have to ask ourselves what exactly we're buying into when we begin the life of wine enthusiast.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most educated and passionate wine drinkers I know use the same glass for everything at home--and it's not particularly expensive. I've chosen to believe that they have nothing to prove to anyone, and aren't about to build an add-on kitchen to house their stems along with a wine cellar or refrigerator. I am now more convinced than ever that I will subscribe to the one-glass approach and forego the other frills, especially now that I know it really makes no difference at the end of the day, anyway.
This article is a great find! Testament to Riedel's marketing genius given the studies showing that varietal specific glasses' effect on wine tastings are marginal at best.
ReplyDeleteI'd just add that there are some functionally-specific wine glasses too. While I can be flexible between white and red glasses, I certainly think that Champagne flutes or Champagne glasses do serve a purpose beyond aesthetic appeal. The small top surface area minimizes the loss of trapped gasses to retain the effervescent quality of the wine.
So perhaps all we need to use at home is a Red/white glass, and a champagne glass.