Does the shape of your wine glass really matter?

More than a decade ago, while working as a writer at a gourmet magazine, I received an invite to a wine glass comparison session from Riedel, a renowned Austrian glassware manufacturer. They wanted to demonstrate how the shape of a glass can significantly alter a wine’s flavour: The same wine would be served in Riedel glasses of various shapes, each designed for a specific grape variety.

Like any journalist, I was cynical. We get bombarded by marketing hot air from press releases and PR practitioners every day, our minds become very sensitive to drivel. I thought: “Unless you were comparing a whisky tumbler with a wine glass, how much of a difference can two different wine glasses really make?”

But the session proved me wrong — and as a wine lover, I was glad to be enlightened. A Pinot Noir, for example, could smell and taste like another wine altogether in a Cabernet Sauvignon wine glass. I was mind-blown.

Riedel’s message was largely aimed at corporate clients like restaurants, where a wine served in an unsuitable glass can affect your enjoyment of the beverage and subsequently the establishment’s wine sales. Still, it got me scrutinising my glasses at home.

In March, Riedel invited me to participate in a glass comparison again. They were launching Veloce, a new range of varietal-specific crystal glasses. The event’s agenda was the same: One wine in different glass shapes; taste and believe. The glasses at the session would all be Riedel’s, though.

Thus, for the sake of making this story more relevant to you, dear reader, I brought along one of my wine glasses — an all-purpose glass with a rather narrow bowl and a thickness that survives the odd topple — as a Glass X or a ‘control’ glass. You are most likely using such a glass for your wines at home, and likewise for many restaurateurs. A plebeian glass it may be but a practical one it definitely is. How would it fare against Riedel’s super-thin, varietal-specific glasses? (I did explain my little plan to the organiser beforehand.)

Maximilian Riedel, Riedel’s 11th generation owner who was at the event to guide our tasting, said the glass’s appearance is secondary to its function. “It’s all about the performance of its bowl,” he said.

We were presented with four varietal-specific glasses from the Veloce range: Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo, and Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot. The session was divided into three sets, each featuring a wine that we poured into three of the four varietal-specific glasses. Unlike the other participants, I had four glasses up for comparison in each set as I included my Glass X, which resembled the Riesling glass.

After each set, I ranked the glasses according to their performance. Here are the results.

SET 1: GIESEN ESTATE, HAWKES BAY CHARDONNAY 2021, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND

1. Chardonnay glass: Peach and floral aromas are apparent. A good balance of fruity accents, minerality and creamy textures.

2. Riesling glass: Some minerality is preserved but alcohol feels rather sharp on the palate; aftertaste is astringent.

3. Glass X: Still rather aromatic but some minerality is lost. Finish is astringent.

4. Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo glass: Aromas are subtle. Some of Chardonnay’s typical white fruit notes are lost. Astringent on the palate.

Wine educators like to explain how our tastebuds work by breaking down our tongue into zones of umami, acidic, bitter, sweet, and salty; the sides of our tongue are sensitive to acid. Although this classic model has since been disproved by many scientists, the Riedel glasses’ way of changing how a wine interacts with our palate shows that the tongue map may still be quite relevant.

According to Riedel, the round, open shape of the Chardonnay glass positions the wine towards the centre of your palate as you sip. It then rolls into the sides of your mouth, enhancing its fruit, minerality and luscious texture.

On the other hand, the narrow bowl of the Riesling glass makes you tilt your head back to drink the wine: It hits the tip of your tongue, deemphasizing Chardonnay’s viscosity and highlighting its acidity. This flow benefits a high-acid Riesling by avoiding the sides of your tongue, balancing its fruit and acidity, but it does no favours for a low-acid, luscious Chardonnay.

My own take is the wider bowl of the Chardonnay glass releases a bigger volume of wine into your mouth, spreading it evenly across your palate. It’s like drinking a beer from a can versus doing so from a mug; it just feels different.

SET 2: CRISTOM VINEYARDS, MT JEFFERSON PINOT NOIR 2021, OREGON, UNITED STATES

1. Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo glass: Red fruit notes like cherries and strawberries shine through. Acidity and soft tannins combine well to extend the wine’s finish.

2. Chardonnay glass: Red fruit is less apparent here; wine tastes a little vegetal. Tannins feel a little harder.

3. Cabernet/Merlot glass: Red fruit profile is almost lost and reduced to an underripe character. Finish is quite tannic and dry.

4. Glass X: Not much different from the Cabernet glass above, except the soft character of Pinot Noir here is largely missing.

Pinot Noir is a wine that invites you to sniff deeply like a perfumer, and the inward curve of the Pinot Noir glass certainly helped this act by concentrating the wine’s aromas around the rim. Riedel again noted that the shape encourages you to tilt your glass back, bringing the wine to the tip of the tongue, and balancing Pinot Noir’s high acidity with its red fruit notes. “The Pinot Noir glass is what we call a ‘thin skin red fruit glass’ for a red wine with low tannins,” he said.

In the tall Cabernet/Merlot glass, the wine could have been mistaken for an underripe Cabernet Franc.

1. Cabernet/Merlot glass: Aromas of coffee, cinnamon and chocolate. Full-bodied, dark fruit character with rather firm tannins. A Bordeaux red blend through and through.

2. Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo glass: Tastes earthier and drier but not entirely in a negative way. While the wine’s dark fruit notes are slightly dulled, the tertiary notes of bitter spices and leather come to the fore; some drinkers may actually like this particular character.

3. Glass X: Less notes of dark fruit. Tannins feel a bit more astringent.

4. Riesling glass: Too bitter, spicy and astringent. Cue that glass of water.

The wine from Chateau Boutisse is a blend of 85 per cent Merlot, 10 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3 per cent Cabernet Franc. Like its Pinot Noir counterpart, the Cabernet/Merlot glass — the biggest among the four — encourages the wine to flow onto the tip of your tongue. Its roomy design lets the wine breathe, softening the high tannins a little and making the wine smoother.Drinking from the narrower Glass X and Riesling glass, the wine lacked the oomph of the dark fruit you’d associate with a Bordeaux red.

HOW MANY GLASSES DO YOU NEED?

And now the big question: Should you go out and buy several varietal-specific glasses?

If you are a wine enthusiast who has plenty of cabinet space and a big budget (a set of four Veloce glasses costs S$273), then it may be worth stocking some of those glasses. But there is no need to get every single varietal-specific glass. Look at what kind of wines you usually drink and buy accordingly. For example, I only have a few varietal-specific glasses, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Pinot Noir, as those are the wines I drink often. If I open a Chianti, I pour it in the Cabernet glass; it still works pretty well. If someone at the dinner table has snagged that glass, then I’d take the plain ol’ all-purpose glass.

Don’t dismiss your all-purpose glass. Except in the Pinot Noir set, mine did not perform the worst among Riedel’s glasses. Plus, the workhorse glass can take a few knocks — perfect for parties. (Riedel also makes an all-purpose glass, although this is something they don’t actively shout about and understandably so.)

Riedel’s thin varietal-specific glasses require careful handling (I once broke a Chardonnay glass after it slipped from my grasp in the basin, which is why Riedel recommends washing the glasses in a dishwasher). Thus, you may want to bring out your varietal-specific glasses only for a special occasion or that Domaine de la Romanee-Conti in your cellar which you have waited years to open.

Riedel wine glasses are available from Cellarmaster Wines