Good Glasses Improve Your Wine Vision

We all know (especially after a certain age) that glasses help us see better. Can they help us smell and taste wine as well? Enhancing the wine experience has been the mission of Austria’s Riedel family for generations. Today, Riedel glasses are icons in the wine world and the number of glasses available has grown to absurd limits. When I first met George Riedel 20 years ago, practically no one knew the Riedel name and he was working 16 hour days to persuade people that the shape of a wine glass has a significant impact on how a wine smells and tastes. Today, millions (maybe tens of millions) of glasses later, George’s son Maximilian is the CEO of Riedel Crystal of North America, showing consumers across the country the same “magic” introduced by his father two decades ago. Maximilian joins us at the Coral Gables Museum next month for one of his legendary “glass tastings” in which he’ll conduct an immensely entertaining seminar in which, using five glasses and two wines, he will demonstrate everything a conscientious wine lover needs to know about glassware.

Maximilian’s intriguing tasting draws on an innovative “Key to Wine” set of five wine glasses (which Max also designed). He shows how and why wines are better in some glasses than others and while you may not find five glasses essential (two good glasses will very nicely meet 75% of your needs), those extra glasses do add some wonderful dimension to the wine drinking experience. When I did my first tasting with George Riedel I asked him to let me try it a second time because the whole experience was so amazing.

Today, the concept of a glasse's shape impacting a wine's flavor and aroma isn’t new but it has lost none of its power to astonish. Mostly, having the right glass helps me get the most value for my wine, not because it adds anything to the wine but because it doesn't take anything away. Why would I spend an extra $10 or $15 or more for a great wine over an average wine only to serve it in a glass that mutes everything that is special about it? I suspect you will find a glass tasting with Maximilian Riedel to be an exceptional investment in wines you already own and those you purchase in the future. Why? Because at the end of the glass tasting, you take all five glasses home with you, all part of the ticket price. We will also have extra sets available for purchase at a special Miami Wine & Food Festival discount as well, forever improving your wine vision.

I bought my first set of Riedel glassware the day after my first tasting with George Riedel, and I’ve bought quite a few additional glasses since. I don’t have a different glass for every wine I drink, but I have enough glasses that no one wants to stay and help me wash up after a tasting at home. Oh well, that’s a small price to pay for knowing that when I taste a wine, I’m tasting everything the winemaker wanted me to find. And in some cases, faults they would prefer go unnoticed. Yes, glasses are a good thing.

Santé,

Lyn

Lyn Farmer, CWS, CSP

Director, Miami Wine & Food Festival