I think it is pretty safe to assume that we all know drinking from a glass is much more satisfying and a far greater experience than drinking from a recycled jam jar but does using the right glass improve the wine?
Improve the wine, no, but improve the enjoyment of the wine, absolutely. A couple of weeks ago I attended a Riedel (pronounced ‘reedle’ like ‘needle’) tasting at Casa del Vino where the focus wasn’t on the wine but on the glassware the wine was served in. While it sounds a bit poncy saying you must serve each variety of wine in the correct glass, the correct glass does make a difference to the way we taste a wine.
While the science is quite simple Riedel have dedicated decades of research to the development exquisite glassware that makes a difference to how we taste wine. In short here is how it works; different parts of our tongue taste different flavour components and a glass shaped to deliver the wine to the tongue in just the right spot changes how we experience the flavour and texture of a wine.
With sauvignon blanc for example a glass with a narrower opening at the top will deliver wine to the centre of the tongue first so we can taste the sweet fruit of the wine before the crisp acidity kicks in. If you taste the same wine from a glass with a wide opening where the wine is delivered to the whole tongue the acid totally dominates the experience and you miss out on the sweeter fruit burst.
This principle can be applied to each variety of wine, red or white.
Taking an oaky chardonnay as another example, drinking this style from a glass with a wide opening means the wine is delivered to all parts of the tongue at the same time and in this case you experience a full range of flavours at the same time. Using a glass with a narrow opening puts the focus on bitter oak components that are sensed at the back of our tongue and makes the wine taste quite bitter rather than full and rounded.
There are many other little things that make Rieldel glassware both perfect and expensive, like being made with a large component of lead crystal and they have cut and polished rims rather than chunky rolled rims so the wine pours nicely from the glass and they are beautiful to both look at and use – form and function.
Yes they are very pricy at $50+ a glass but if you look after them they will last for many years and will enhance every glass of wine you drink or you can pay a lot of money for one bottle of wine and serve it from average glassware.
My advice is buy a few Riedel glasses to suit the wine you drink most often and then have a set of good quality multi purpose glasses you can use for other wines. Ann and Mark at Casa del Vino can help you choose the right glassware for your use.
I have been drinking
Saint Clair Marlborough Riesling 2009 ($20.95)
Bursting with ripe lime and grapefruit aromas with lashings of minerality and a full citrus palate this is a true delight. That minerality and fresh but ripe acidity in the finish makes this worth putting in your shopping basket.
La Strada Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007 - $34.90 from O’Neill’s Gourmet Butchery and Deli at the Richmond Mall.
Made by those pinot geniuses at Fromm Winery this wine is a beauty. Layers of ripe spiced cherry, subtle mushroom, black liquorice and delicate oak are complimented by just enough juicy acidity to make one glass simply not enough.
The 2010 wine grape harvest in the Nelson region is winding down with the vast majority of fruit safely harvested and being processed in wineries. Each year I spend some time visiting wineries in the region tasting freshly pressed and partially fermented juice to get an overview of the quality of the fruit being harvested and the likely quality of the finished product.
I can tell you that this year I have tasted some of the most flavoursome juice I have ever tasted in the region. Not only were the harvested grapes in pristine condition but they are packed with incredibly pure varietal flavours. In fact the word ‘purity’ is one word you will read a lot more of in this column in future months.
It can be difficult sometimes to predict what a finished wine will be like when you taste the fresh juice because often the true flavours are disguised by high sugar characters (sugars are fermented into alcohol so the sweetness we see now is reduced markedly as the juice is turned into wine). This is often the case with varieties like pinot gris where you can’t really taste fruit flavours at this stage, however this year the pinot gris juice I tasted is already bursting with ripe pear and spiced quince characters that are clean and pure - no honeyed botrytis characters to overshadow the fruit.
Neudorf Vineyards are celebrating their 30th vintage this year and when I spent some time with Tim Finn and winemaker John Kavanagh last week they were smiling contentedly as we tasted the fresh juice, it will be a vintage of superb quality to mark the 30 year milestone.
Daniel Schwarzenbach from Blackenbrook Vineyards has a smile from ear-to-ear as he proudly lets me taste juice that has such delightful balance and flavour purity that you could almost bottle it now as grape juice, something I would not normally be saying about wine grape juice.
Pat Stowe from Rimu Grove Wines had a similar beaming smile as we tasted some fantastic freshly pressed juice while he declared it was the very best fruit he has seen in the history of Rimu Grove.
Even the notoriously cautious Hermann Seifried from Seifried Estate is happy to talk about the great quality of this year’s vintage. He does however caution that even if producers make great wine this year they still need to sell it and the international market is still very fickle.
It doesn’t matter how good this vintage has been it will be remembered in this region for the tragic loss of viticulturist David McIntosh who has made a significant contribution to the local industry. The whole industry has been affected by the tragedy but none more so than the team at Greenhough Vineyards where he was a close friend as well as a workmate. The industry’s thoughts are with David’s family and his workmates.
No 1 Family Estate Remy Cuvee - RRP $55
Made by bubbly guru Daniel Le Brun and named after their 21 year old son Remy this is a real treat. The wine is lively, fresh, delicate and complex at the same time. Fresh apples in the aromas with just enough lively acidity in the luscious palate and a satisfying biscuity finish make it a delight.
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawke’s Bay 2009 Viognier – RRP $21.99
It already has a gold medal and trophy hanging from its belt and I think we can expect it to win many more. A luscious palate weight packed with flavours of spiced quince, yellow peach and just a touch of honey combine to make a multi-layered wine of great complexity. Perfect autumn drinking.
