Unconvinced About Riedel?

Riedel glasses are scientifically designed by sommeliers to enhance your favourite wine. The shape of the glass has a massive effect on how the wine tastes. Andrew Duncan, Director of Art of Living explains why:

The Tongue map

The concept of the wine glass company Riedel is based firmly on the principle of “how and where the wine is directed in the mouth and the resulting effect that it has on the taste of the wine you drink". And this incidentally is all wine from 'the exotic' to a supermarket 'vin ordinaire'.

This placing of the wine in the mouth is because the tongue picks up different flavours depending on where the wine (or spirits & beer) lands on it. So for instance, the tip of the tongue picks up the fruit, the sides acid, and the back of the tongue bitterness.

Now you may be thinking, as I did, that that’s all very well but once in the mouth the wine is going to end up everywhere. Well to an extent that’s true, but it seems to me that it is where and how the wine first travels over the tongue's surface that has the real impact on flavour.

An example: So let’s take an instance of a glass that’s dear to my heart, the Sauvignon Blanc grape. It produces a fairly acid wine and was not a favourite of mine until I tried it out of a Riedel Sauvignon blanc glass. Riedel’s design for that grape variety has a small bowl and a narrowish opening.

So as you drink, the glass directs the flow toward the very front of your mouth where you pick up the delicious light fruitiness and, due to the small opening, sends a narrow stream of wine down the centre of your tongue well away from the edges that pick up the acids. So marked is the contrast that I now find I can drink Sauvigon blanc until the cows come home!

Size does make a difference

The other big factor in getting the best from your wine is the shape and depth of the bowl. This is significant because all wines have a number of different layers of aromas. Typically the aromas in a white wine are lighter and shallower in depth; so the white wine glasses tend to have smaller bowls.

Many reds on the other hand need a bigger deeper bowl. Without which the much more pronounced aromas that are naturally given off by the wine would literally spill over the side of the glass and get lost.

Clean delivery

So if you’re still with me there is one more influence on the flavour and that is how cleanly the wine is delivered into the mouth. If you look carefully at your own wine glasses you will probably see a slightly bulbous top edge to the glass. It looks insignificant but does actually interrupt the smooth transition of the wine from glass to mouth.

So at Riedel they cut the top of the glass with a laser resulting in a completely clean edge that allows the bowl shape to do exactly what is intended. This may seem a bit extreme but these glasses are in reality “precision drinking instruments,” in which any wine is substantially enhanced.

Try Riedel glasses yourself without risk

You don’t have to take my word for it as you can try it out for yourself without risk. At Art of Living we have a guarantee that allows you to try out any product we sell without risk. It’s simply this; you can return your glasses to us unused or used for a full refund if you find them disappointing for any reason whatsoever. If you enjoy wine then I can almost guarantee that you will appreciate a Riedel glass. Either ring us if you’re uncertain which one to try first, or use the Riedel Wine & Glass Guide.

Best wishes,

Andrew Duncan
 

Riedel Tasting Set Special Offers
	Vinum Tasting Set 1 of each glass: Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Burgundy.
	Vitis Tasting Set 1 of each glass: Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Burgundy.
	Vinum Tasting Set 2 of each glass: Bordeaux and Sauvignon Blanc. View Tasting Set Special Offers
The following links will take you through to our Riedel ranges: Vinum | Sommelier | O range | Vitis Tyrol | Extreme | Grape

Watch this video: Andrew Duncan talks with Georg Riedel about how Riedel glasses make wine taste better.

Title: Georg Riedel Tasting at Denbies. 
Length: 2 mins
Date: 04 Jun 2008
Source: Scrambled Egg Productions