Sunday, March 23, 2008
Food, Wine, Beer & Spirits

Glass act

Riedel Cystal proves the glass makes the wine

CREDIT:Photos courtesy of Riedel
Georg Riedel, 10th generation glassmaker and president of Riedel Crystal

By Phineas Mollod and Jason Tesauro

Smell and taste are not mere sensations, but the culmination of sensation imbued with subjective notions that are susceptible to bias. For example, many odors are alike chemically—parmesan and vomit both contain butyric acid, a head-scratching fact considering the average collegiate upchuck invariably contains pizza remnants—yet the ordered brain would never mistake formaggio for spew. Thus, not surprisingly, the human taster is subject to suggestion. Take a recent study where Caltech scientists proved that expensive wine tastes better than cheap wine … despite being served the same stuff twice at different pronounced prices; moral of the story, humans assume expensive wines taste better, and the cortex makes it happen.

Recently, Phineas attended two wine-and-spirits glassware tastings hosted by Riedel (rhymes with Don Cheadle), among the world’s foremost glassmakers, now in the biz for more than 250 years. The host declared: “Sorry, you may think glassware isn’t important, but we’re here to complicate your life.” Skeptical, Phineas assumed like most that great wine or scotch tastes right even in a plastic cup. Wrong. Mark Twain may have said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society,” but, in many respects, the glass makes the wine (or at least enhances it). 

Every wine’s attributes—fruit, acid, mineral, wood, tannin and alcohol—are based upon grape varietal, terroir and winemaking processes. Riedel manufactures specific glassware meant to highlight a varietal’s particular assets. Through a series of tastings (proper glass, wrong glass, cheap glass), it’s clear that a glass’s shape directly impacts the quality and intensity of bouquet as well as flow onto the palate. When a wine’s aromas fill the glass, fruit and florals rise to the top, minerality hangs in the middle, and the oak and alcohol components sit at the bottom. Swirling increases the intensity of aromas, but not necessarily their noseward delivery. Size and the shape of the glass dictate which aromas reach the nose and at what intensity. At the tasting, California pinot noir poured into overly thick, wide-open joker glasses lacked complex fruit and florals and tasted bitter, and a big California chardonnay poured into the wrong glass seemed distant, its savoriness diminished. The bowl’s shape and rim are also key. A wide glass with a thick rolled rim delivers the wine haphazardly; splashing the side palate where bitterness is perceived, the wine loses balance and elegance. On the other hand, a light lead crystal glass with a narrow, cut rim, forces a drinker’s head to tilt, and in the case of the tapered pinot glass, coaxes the tongue tip toward the glass, encouraging the fruits to be sensed before tannins.

Can glassware do everything? As our host explained, a mid-range wine will open up appreciably more, but plonk is plonk: “Put a $6 wine in a $100 glass—it doesn’t help the wine, but it’s fun.” Does one need the entire Riedel line? No, but stock up for those wines you drink most. In our experience, a pinot noir glass is nearly required for Burgundy fans, and Bordeaux and zinfandel glassware are multifunctional. For whites, the sauvignon blanc glass is mandatory, along with a chardonnay glass (Montrachet style for opulent wines, Chablis style for finesse). Does it really work? You bet your glass it does. SP
Phineas and Jason are the authors of “The Modern Gentleman” and “The Modern Lover.” E-mail them at booze@sundaypaper.com.

LIFT YOUR SPIRITS
At the spirits tasting, Phineas discovered how cognac, tequila and single malt scotch fare better in proper, stylish barware that tones down alcoholic heat and bracing nature of spirits, balancing them against other components. It now pains him to even witness a brandy poured in an enormous snifter where the spirit’s florals are eclipsed by a singe of ethanol. As Georg Riedel, 10th generation glassmaker and president of Riedel Crystal, quipped, “Who knows … a balloon brandy snifter might be good for goldfish?” The standout was the single malt scotch glass featuring a thistle-shaped bowl and a slightly flared lip that directs liquid to the tip of the tongue, spotlighting scotch’s complexities and allowing the whole shootin’ match of flavors to fire in order: fruit, peat, yeast, smoke, oak and  a lasting finish.