Try this experiment with a ten-dollar bottle of red wine: Pour some into any old goblet and some into a proper tulip-shaped crystal Bordeaux glass. Taste. I guarantee you'll think you're drinking two different wines.
The glass you choose has a tremendous impact on your enjoyment of wine. Even unremarkable wines taste more elegant and refined when served in suitable stemware. And the finest wines are all but wasted if you drink them out of coffee mugs. The acquisition of excellent stemware is the first step towards improving your in-home wine experience.
Stemware Basics
A great wine glass is plain, colorless and tulip-shaped, with a stem and a very thin lip, and made of crystal. A tinted glass, or one with etchings, doesn't allow you to appreciate a wine's beautiful color. The tulip shape, wherein the glass tapers back in at the lip, allows for the concentration and collection of a wine's aroma. Remember, the taste buds are far less dynamic and discerning than the olfactory bulb -- 90 percent of what we call taste, biologically speaking, is actually smell. The stem allows you to hold the glass without warming the wine with your body heat. (Only brandy snifters don't have stems, and that's because you're supposed to warm the brandy with your hand.) A thin, properly shaped lip directs the flow of the wine into your mouth in such a way that the smooth stream touches the most sensitive areas of the tongue. A thick-rimmed glass, on the other hand, accentuates a wine's flaws, particularly harsh acidity and bitterness. Crystal has a rougher surface, on a microscopic level, than regular glass and therefore helps wine release its aromas as you drink.
The Four Essential Glasses
A respectable arsenal of stemware includes four glasses: a general-purpose white wine glass, two types of red wine glasses (commonly called Bordeaux and Burgundy) and a champagne flute. The white wine glass is small, in order to prevent the rapid warming that would occur in a vessel with more surface area. The Bordeaux glass (which is also appropriate for other hearty red wines, like cabernet and merlot) is larger, which allows for more development of the bouquet. Intuitively, you'd think a Bordeaux glass would be larger than a Burgundy glass, because Bordeaux is a "bigger" wine, richer and more fully flavored. But the Burgundy glass is the largest in any stemware collection exactly because Burgundy-type wines (such as pinot noir and other delicate varieties) are so subtle that they need a huge area in which to gather their aromas. The most notable feature of the champagne flute is that it's tall, to allow the proper development of bubbles.
Above and Beyond
Eisch has created breathable crystal that aerates your wine in just minutes. This novel development is hard to believe, but really works. The crystal has undergone a proprietary treatment that allows wine to aerate in just two to four minutes. More importantly, the glasses will never lose their ability to improve your best wines and can be washed just like other glasses -- no special treatment required. Hand-blown of lead-free crystal, these glasses are extremely durable. Taste for yourself, the proof is in the glass.
The glass shapes of the "Superior Breathable" series have been designed according to the principle of optimally accentuating the character of the respective beverage. In addition the glasses undergo an oxygenisation treatment which has the effect that bouquet and aromas open up within only a few minutes, which otherwise can only be achieved by decanting for 1 – 2 hours. "Superior Breathable" wine glasses and goblets are made in leadfree crystal-glass quality in fully-automatic operation using state-of-the art technology.
Ronn R. Wiegand, Master of Wine & Master Sommelier and Publisher of Restaurant Wine on breathable glasses: "I was skeptical about the claim of 'breathable glasses' but was convinved of their unique qualities after serious taste-testing in my office with dozens of different wine types. I found that the glasses made the wines tasted from them -- after 2 or 3 minutes -- smoother and more integrated than the same wines served in comparable glasses from other suppliers."
Keep It Clean
All the fancy stemware in the world won't be worth a damn if you don't clean it obsessively. Crystal's porous surface absorbs kitchen smells, musty cupboard aromas and dish soap. Never just take a glass from the cabinet and pour wine into it. Just before serving, always rewash your stemware in very hot, sudsy water and rinse it over and over again. Polish with a lint-free cloth laundered without fabric softener (which leaves an invisible film). Then stick your nose in the glass and inhale -- you should either smell nothing, or wash it again.
