Riedel has attempted to re-invent the wheel its new patented tasting glass. You pour about 20ml into its hollow stem and roll it horizontally along a benchtop to coat the entire inside of its bowl with a layer of wine. Restore it to an upright attitude, pop in the proboscis and sniff. Frankly, the results are extraordinary – to the extent that I doubt I’d recognise many wines the second time around if the first time was from a Riedel taster. My trials suggest the shape accentuates esters and alcohols far more than an ISO, but is that what we want to notice? Could these glasses ever be adopted on a broad scale? I can’t imagine judges rolling them along the counter, nor can I figure why a winemaker would use them. Unless it’s impractical, I don’t use anything other than an ISO for my wine reviews, since their general availability affords one of the view level playing-fields in the business of wine evaluation. I won’t give marks to a wine served in a large high-quality crystal wine glass, for I reckon they can add between 1.0 and 1.5 out of 20 to a wine’s score. The Riedel tasting glass costs around $21.90 per unit. What will you use it for?
