Smell the difference
November 11th, 2013 | Tasting
At the end of last week we held one of the most interesting tastings that we have done for many a year….. a comparative tasting. However, we were not comparing different wines, but rather comparing different tasting glasses! Over the years the evolution of the wine glass has become a science in itself, and nearly every serious manufacturer offers a specialist range of wine glasses, with each glass targeted at a particular style of wine, or perhaps even a specific grape variety.
The tasting we set up was targeted at the evolution of glass design over the years, from the humble Paris goblet, tiptoeing through the tulip shapes, to the ISO and then on to the modern manufacturers (Riedel, Schott-Zwiesel and a bit of Peugeot thrown in at the end for good measure). The results were not at all what we expected, and in the end threw up one or two surprises as well as one or two disappointments.
Naturally, we used the same wine throughout the tasting – a Castro Martin Family Estate, and started with two sizes of Paris goblet. To be honest there was very little to chose between the two – firstly, swirling the wine was not easy, and for aroma they were more or less exactly as we had anticipated – quite poor. With a very open bowl shape the bouquet of the wine was not ‘captured’ or focused in any way towards the nose, and simply escaped. The following two tulip shaped glasses revealed the first surprise – the smaller one of the two was actually quite good for capturing the fragrance of the wine. Almost certainly the slightly more enclosed shape of the bowl allowed a good ‘fusion’ between the wine and the oxygen, giving a good result overall.
We then experienced the biggest surprise of the entire tasting – the ISO standard wine tasting glass. Compared to nearly every other glasses in the tasting this actually yielded perhaps the least aroma on the nose of all! Logically you might imagine that the design of the bowl (a very enclosed shape) would focus the aromas even more, but for some reason this was not the case. The nose of the wine simply appeared quite dumb and not very forthcoming at all. My own theory is that this is something to do with the reduced amount of oxygen in the glass. The real reason for swirling a wine glass before tasting is to expose the wine to more oxygen, allowing it to release its perfume, but as the bowl of the ISO is comparatively narrow, it could be that the release of aroma is simply restricted – but I remind you that this is just my theory.
We then moved on to the more modern, ‘professional’ glasses – firstly we had two Riedel Vinum glasses of different sizes. The smaller Viognier glass two actually fared much better than the large glass, but when compared side by side, the small Riedel was only as good as the small tulip glass we had sampled earlier (so much for the technology of glass making)! Then finally, I think we found the best tasting glass of all. The Schott-Zwiesel ‘Pure’ Riesling glass. Not only did this glass appear to release the most perfume from our delicate albariño grape, but the glass itself also had a very nice feel to it….. the weight and balance of the glass, quite fine and elegant, perfect for showing our wine at its very best. Now all we have to do is replace all of our current Riedel glasses with this model!
By way of a curiosity we ended this exercise with a crazy designer tasting cup/glass – the Impitoyable ‘Le Taster’ (made by a subsiduary of Peugeot). A very unusual hand-blown shape with no stem designed specifically for professional tasters. In this tasting there was no doubt that Le Taster produced the most dramatic results, enhancing every little nuance of the perfume. The only possible downside of this glass might be in tasting an alcoholic wine (which of course, albariño is not), I believe that the sensation of alcohol might become too exaggerated, and could spoil the overall effect.
In summary, I would highly recommend this tasting to anyone – even after many years in the trade we still learned many new things about tasting wine!
At the end of last week we held one of the most interesting tastings that we have done for many a year….. a comparative tasting. However, we were not comparing different wines, but rather comparing different tasting glasses! Over the years the evolution of the wine glass has become a science in itself, and nearly every serious manufacturer offers a specialist range of wine glasses, with each glass targeted at a particular style of wine, or perhaps even a specific grape variety.
The tasting we set up was targeted at the evolution of glass design over the years, from the humble Paris goblet, tiptoeing through the tulip shapes, to the ISO and then on to the modern manufacturers (Riedel, Schott-Zwiesel and a bit of Peugeot thrown in at the end for good measure). The results were not at all what we expected, and in the end threw up one or two surprises as well as one or two disappointments.
Naturally, we used the same wine throughout the tasting – a Castro Martin Family Estate, and started with two sizes of Paris goblet. To be honest there was very little to chose between the two – firstly, swirling the wine was not easy, and for aroma they were more or less exactly as we had anticipated – quite poor. With a very open bowl shape the bouquet of the wine was not ‘captured’ or focused in any way towards the nose, and simply escaped. The following two tulip shaped glasses revealed the first surprise – the smaller one of the two was actually quite good for capturing the fragrance of the wine. Almost certainly the slightly more enclosed shape of the bowl allowed a good ‘fusion’ between the wine and the oxygen, giving a good result overall.
We then experienced the biggest surprise of the entire tasting – the ISO standard wine tasting glass. Compared to nearly every other glasses in the tasting this actually yielded perhaps the least aroma on the nose of all! Logically you might imagine that the design of the bowl (a very enclosed shape) would focus the aromas even more, but for some reason this was not the case. The nose of the wine simply appeared quite dumb and not very forthcoming at all. My own theory is that this is something to do with the reduced amount of oxygen in the glass. The real reason for swirling a wine glass before tasting is to expose the wine to more oxygen, allowing it to release its perfume, but as the bowl of the ISO is comparatively narrow, it could be that the release of aroma is simply restricted – but I remind you that this is just my theory.
We then moved on to the more modern, ‘professional’ glasses – firstly we had two Riedel Vinum glasses of different sizes. The smaller Viognier glass two actually fared much better than the large glass, but when compared side by side, the small Riedel was only as good as the small tulip glass we had sampled earlier (so much for the technology of glass making)! Then finally, I think we found the best tasting glass of all. The Schott-Zwiesel ‘Pure’ Riesling glass. Not only did this glass appear to release the most perfume from our delicate albariño grape, but the glass itself also had a very nice feel to it….. the weight and balance of the glass, quite fine and elegant, perfect for showing our wine at its very best. Now all we have to do is replace all of our current Riedel glasses with this model!
By way of a curiosity we ended this exercise with a crazy designer tasting cup/glass – the Impitoyable ‘Le Taster’ (made by a subsiduary of Peugeot). A very unusual hand-blown shape with no stem designed specifically for professional tasters. In this tasting there was no doubt that Le Taster produced the most dramatic results, enhancing every little nuance of the perfume. The only possible downside of this glass might be in tasting an alcoholic wine (which of course, albariño is not), I believe that the sensation of alcohol might become too exaggerated, and could spoil the overall effect.
In summary, I would highly recommend this tasting to anyone – even after many years in the trade we still learned many new things about tasting wine!