Wine Glasses, How Do They Affect Wine?

Wine Glasses, How Do They Affect Wine? – Episode #111

October 19, 2006

Wines tasted in this episode:

Spreadsheet courtesy of Chris Stanisci
2003 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir North Slope
Caymus 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon SOLD OUT

Today Gary tackles a very important topic that many people discuss and debate at a fever pitch in the wine industry. Gary grabs two great wines and attacks this subjuct head first, please join in the discussion and let us know what you think. Also this is tell your friends thursday. Pass the WLTV word around!

226 Responses

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May 15, 2009

Phredd
I’m loving the archives. This is my new favorite episode. I’ve been trying to convince a friend for quite a long time now that he really needs new wine glasses, but he won’t believe me that it makes enough difference to be worth it. Hopefully this will convince him.

I love the end of the episode, by the way, and I love even more the susequent comments by the humor-impaired. Great expression on your face there, that should tell everyone everything they need to know.
May 12, 2009

Bobbie Smith
I just did something similar with a friend the other night. Four wines, and different glasses from a coffee mug, to my normal wine glasses, to the appropriate Riedel. Night and Day. The Sauvignon Blanc had no grassy characteristics out of my glass, the Riedel classic Sauvignon. The Cabernet was so good, I regretted it the next day. So interesting. I was a total unbeliever until I did this and now I am going to go and buy some glasses, before I waste anymore wines out of the wrong glasses.
September 29, 2008

Casey Lee
who wouldnt want to watch part II? great episode. very interesting. loose the tie .but good vid. thanks for your opinion as always gary .
March 25, 2008

kathyintex
Gary,
When I think of a tasting in different glasses, I think of different glass vendors, i.e., NOT using all Reidel Vinum (regardless of wine style shapes).

To me, a great wine glass improves the taste of the wine, and the wine drinking experience. I define a great glass as a glass that is stemmed, thin, and has NO bead, or lip, on the top rim, so that the wine is directed into the mouth properly.

To do a ‘glass-tasting’ from all Reidel GREAT glasses defeats the purpose of the comparison. Next time try any ‘Reidel-type’ bordeaux glass against a heavy Anchor vendor bordeaux glass, or a heavy Crisa bordeaux glass. Those two glasses are very thick, heavy and have a huge roll on the top that (to me) interferes with the tasting process.

Enjoyed the show (although I stopped at the third glass you tried so I could write this email to you!).

Thanks for what you do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~kathyintex
‘God in His goodness sent the grapes, to cheer both great and small; little fools will drink too much, and great fools not at all.’
March 15, 2008

foulmouthpoet
great episode. my brother and i had a wine last night. he was drinking out of a stemless glass (a very thin one– fairly wide just above the bottom and closes in quite a bit by the top), and i was drinking out of one of those new eisch glasses. we usually have very similiar taste. not that we enjoy the exact same stuff but that we usually can see what one another is tasting/smelling in a wine. we disagreed on many points, not thinking that the glasses could be the difference. then we started to catch on and switched glasses. WOW. huge difference. funniest thing was we both agreed that the wine smelled better out of his glass and it tasted better out of mine. two other people at the table who don’t usually get into our thorough/over-the-top/ridiculously-fun discussions about the wine we drink, also tried. it was unanimous. the glasses DO make a difference, even to very untrained palettes like ours. now which one would smell AND taste the best? we may have to get some more glasses….
March 6, 2008

tina
this is my first time on this site, although i do love a good red. i just came upon these wine glasses from my grandmother (who has passed). i don’t know anything about them and would appreciate anything any of u could give me. they are “fred roberts company” that is “made in japan”. their a bell shaped, i think they are for wine!?! they are crystal. please let me know if u know anything, i’ve already googled it and that wasn’t enough. thank you!
January 21, 2008

Andrew H.
This episode was AMAZING! I never even thought the glasses would make a difference in the wine experience. I cannot wait to try this one!
December 10, 2007

Canadian Chris
Great episode, but I’m not sure what the last comment was – just a tongue in cheek? Just this weekend, I finished off a meritage at lunch on a Saturday that I had been drinking all week. That afternoon, I went out and got the cabernet sauvignon vitis glass from Riedel. At dinner, I opened a new bottle of the same meritage, poured it in the new glass and was surprised to taste a wine that tasted fuller, more polished, like the glass I poured earlier that day which had been oxidizing all week! Now I’m wondering at the shape of the glass too!! Holy smokes a glass for each varietal?
December 8, 2007

soyhead
i think gary in this episode you make the switch from vayner-chuk to vay-ner-chuk.
what made you do it?
November 6, 2007

SoCalDaveBandito
Having been a longtime watcher of WLTV I had to come back and watch this one again.

Is it just me? Did I miss something? Did Gary just spend an entire episode claiming how humbled he feels about this and how different (albeit subtle) the differences were in the glasses only to say at the very end that glasses don’t make a difference?

WTF?

Do the flavors change? Not too much. Is there a drastic difference? No.
But there are differences in the nose and isn’t that what Gary praises time and time again?

I’m a bit confused. I know this is quite some time later (currently up to episode #345) but if someone ever comes back and reads these comments again I’d like to hear an explanation.

Personally I like the bigger (Burgundy/Bordeaux/Syrah – AKA “Big Ass Glass”) wine glasses because they really allow me to give the wine a good swirl and aerate it and then a good sniff with my big ‘ol nose. To me it enhances the whole experience, but to each their own.
October 13, 2007

Fred Liu
Hi, Gary. I am one of your new audience in China. After being a quiet listener for weeks, I get your call for the private-real-glass-stories. Now, here is mine. Recently, I got my Riedel sets, Bordeaux, Syrah, and Bourgogne, and tried the Cotes du Rhone, E.Guigal, 2003 in the Syrah. Comparing to my taste glass, a small one about the same size to Riesling, maybe smaller, which brought some prune and spicy aroma and a terribly acid and pungent palate, the wine in Syrah came out to be a prune, spicy, meaty, gamy, mint bloom of aroma, and a very supple and well-balanced palate. I can not remember all of them, but it is totally different, from hell to hevean.

Ok, that is my story and my part of effort.
I love your show, and move on.
Thank you!
October 8, 2007

arben ademaj
hi GARY,Im a new wine appasionated man,and i dont know much about them,but i like those things i hear from you even that i dont know haw deep you know wine,.thats becose you sound natural,i have drink a lot wine ,and i feel bed when i think that i have done it without knowing wine and treating it good it is amaizing haw much is inside the W I N E,
THANKS FROM BOSTON
September 17, 2007

Cato
Gary,

Your show on wine glasses, like all your others, was highly entertaining and informative.

I have a very unsophisticated palette and do not know much about wines; but as a doctoral student in Classics, I do have some acquaintance with Ancient Greek and Roman drinking customs. You probably were aware of this, but in case you weren’t, the Greeks and Romans had elaborate customs for mixing and serving wines, and they employed scores of differently shaped vessels.

The ancients may not have been as scientific as Riedel, but at least it suggests that for millennia people have suspected that the shape of wine vessels can affect the tasting experience.

Thank you for sharing your expertise and passion for wine. I learn so much from your shows and look forward to seeing many more!
August 30, 2007

New to Wine? Interested to learn more? - Noticias externas
[...] Do wine glasses affect the taste of wine? [...]
August 12, 2007

justin
I have watched this episode a couple times, and have done my own glassware taste off. Glassware really does make a difference. Your AWSOME.
August 4, 2007

Daniel O
I’m impressed! I’ve heard a lot about the shape of a wine glass affecting the way it smells or tastes, but I haven’t seen anything like this before. I did get to experience this myself once, but it was a simpler example… a sommelier who was teaching a workshop passed around two glasses of red wine and asked us to smell both and tell him which one we thought smelled better. One glass was rounder, like a ball, while the other was more elongated and had a smaller opening/mouth. Of course, it turned out to be the same wine, but the aroma or nose was noticeably different! Now I have three sets of wine glasses: all purpose white, all purpose red, and sparkling. Maybe one day when I have a lot more money I’ll buy a full set of Riedel wine glasses!
June 21, 2007

John Witherspoon
HEY GV
Jumping back to check out some old eps, found this one and loved it. I am huge glass freak, I think it makes all the difference. Nothing disappoints me more (I am sure something does) than getting a small little goblet at a restaurant to drink my nice wine out of. I have done tastings before, doing comparisons, but of course I can see the glass so I am biased, although I feel there is totally a difference between a thick rimmed goblet and a thin rimmed tulip shaped glass. I have never done it to the extent that you did today, but I would love to.
Check out this link, it is a cool article and it is neat how she set up the test. I have met Jeannine at conference and she is pretty cool and has done some neat sensory perception experiments with wine and cheese. http://www.tastingscience.info/publications/Glass%20shape.pdf

See ya
J DUB
April 30, 2007

vanmatthew
Hey Gary, Hope this isn’t too late but what are the differences between brands of wine glasses. I see you use the Riedel Sommelier series but how do they compare to the Vinum, Spigelu, or the Waterford Connoisseur series.

Matt
April 27, 2007

EvanK
Hey Gary, Just like alot of people said GREAT episode and hope for more to come and im sure they did lol..( little late) getting closer to the new episode’s one at a time. My question is, For all the dirrerent trys of wine in the world which glass would be universal to use for them all??? just woundering , a WLTV FAN!

Evan.K
April 15, 2007

Kelly
I’ve just finished Matt Kramer’s book–Making Sense of Wine. In the book he discusses similar tests he’s had at the Riedel factory. After his evaluation he decides that the Zinfandel Vinum Series glass is the best glass for all wines in general. Why didn’t you use the glass? I was looking into buying some and you do sell them, so again why not use them?
March 27, 2007

CindyW
I know this is a few months after the episode first aired, but I have to tell you it is one of my favorites!

In my other beverage-sipping life, I’m a tea geek, and there are some big similarities in the tea and wine experience. Different types of teas brewed in different pots, poured into a variety of cup sizes, can present totally different aromas and taste characteristics. Fans of gourmet Chinese/Taiwanese oolongs (like myself) have different yixing pots for different regions of tea — we play with brewing times, talk about sulphur and grass and roasting distinctions. Its amazing how a tea prepared in one pot will smell of orchids and pine trees, yet in another pot it will be lackluster and characterless.

I knew this all of this, yet when my husband started bringing home different types of glasses for wine, I was skeptical. However, I soon found a difference myself and had to admit that glasses can make or break a wine experience. This episode further validated all of those purchases of Riedel glassware that my husband has made.

Thanks for a really interesting WineTV — learned a lot!
March 3, 2007

Alos Diallo
I do and I don’t I usually drink wine out of some antique glasses that we keep at home that were given to my mother by her grandmother. They are really nice however most of them are far smaller then the burgundy wine glass that was tried. I have often thought of going out and purchasing new glasses but I love the old ones and how they looks. I did notice that there was no more Caymus available, will you get any more in? I have never tried it and would love to order some.
February 20, 2007

TommyBoBo of WI
Riedel tasting in Minneapolis 6 years ago,, room of 50 skeptics,, blew everyone of us away. Took the tasting home to my wife and another couple, neither of which are big into wine,,, and without telling them which glass was best for which wine,, all three of them picked the glass that went with the wine!! bordeaux, Pinot, sauv blanc and chardonnay. I’ve been hooked since. But I’m going to try my Shiraz out of Burgundy glasses now that JOEL OF KYOTO mentioned it. tks
February 3, 2007

Joel in Kyoto
gary…good work..once you try the test it becomes obvious. personally, i use the bordeaux and the burgundy glasses more than other glasses for reds…i find the syrah glass brings out (like you said) more acidity….it may be better suited to rhones than auz shiraz’s. but here’s a kicker: i am enjoying my big auz wines out of the burgundy glass these days!……..go ahead, try it….less acidity, less green-ness (read: bitter), more evolved, rounded and balanced in the burg glass (after SEVERAL HOURS decanting of course) in short: more complexity to my palate at least……i am gonna test drive a new release 04 kalleske greenock shz today with a bud and will taste it out of both glasses again…..lots of fun.

joel
February 3, 2007

Corrado
Having found WLTV only recently, I’ve been looking through back episodes to get GaryV’s views on some of my ‘hotbutton’ issues.

I did not need to be convinced of the importance of wine glasses. I’m not a wine snob; in fact I’m still quite a novice in the wide world of wine. The best evidence I can present that glasses make a difference is that I’ve put friends and family to the test who think that notion is BS. My standard MO is to take something like a Chateau Souverain Cabernet and pour similar amounts into a 16oz pint glass, a crystal ‘wine glass (V-shaped), a Chardonnay glass (e.g. Spiegleau Vino Grande), and a Bordeaux (or Burgundy; I only got Bordeaux recently) glass of similar quality to the Chardonnay glass.

I let the guests taste in any order for the first round, but require them to go in order for the second tasting, either pint->Red or Red->pint. After the second round, I have them taste the opposite end one final time. Keep in mind, these are people who don’t claim to be wine aficionados and who don’t think glasses make a differnce. I haven’t found a single person YET who doesn’t walk away convinced that glasses affect taste.

As far as purchasing stemware, I have my ‘party’ glasses that are very generic, glass red & white glasses, I have my ‘guest’ glasses that are Speigleau Vino Grande Burgundy and Chardonnay stemware, and I have a growing collection of Mondavi Waterford HUGE glasses that I use when it’s ‘just us’ drinking wine @ home.

I agree 100% that **THE** glass to have to have is the Bordeaux. It’s a great jack-of-all-trades glass that can adequately serve Cab, Shiraz, Merlot, Fume Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay…

There should be a section of WLTV that’s ‘educational programs’ where things like glasses (111), palate training (148), decanting (18), and other shows where the focus is more on building skills than tasting the wine(s) du jour are covered.