Wine glasses

I was wondering why Pinot Noir and Burgundy require the largest bowl on the wine glass? I thought the larger bowls were to allow the wine to aerate which helps with the tannins. If Pinot Noir/Burgundy have less tannins, particulary compared to Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, why wouldn't the PNs have a smaller bowled glass?

[David M. Bueker]

The bigger bowls are more to allow the aromatics to expand in the glass. Pinot is the most aromatic red wine, so that's the reason for the big bowl.

[Jenise]

Maria, another wine that rewards you for pulling the big bowl are grenache-based wines like Cotes du Rhone and some Chateneufs.

Maria, another wine that rewards you for pulling the big bowl are grenache-based wines like Cotes du Rhone and some Chateneufs.

And nebbiolo too! Aged barolo always gets the big bowl in our house.

Maria, another wine that rewards you for pulling the big bowl are grenache-based wines like Cotes du Rhone and some Chateneufs.

And nebbiolo too! Aged barolo always gets the big bowl in our house.

Yes, I've heard about you slurping out of that big bowl...

For a real eye opener.... I suggest trying a prestige cuvee Champagne in a Pinot Glass.

Since we are talking about wine glasses, I have a question. Just how important are the different wine glasses to the drinking experience? I have only two different types of glasses. One larger, more open bowl that I generally use for reds and a smaller glass that I use for whites. My two problems are cost and storage of all those glasses. What does everyone else say?

Brad, if I were going to limit myself to 1 or two types of wine glas, I would opt for one and that would be the INAO glass. it is a smallish (around 8oz) egg shapped glass that seems to work well with both red and white. Of course as most things "one sizer fits all" they are not optimum, but they do take care of the space requirements and they do serve fairly well for most types of wine.

Yup! And you can get them for about $2.50ea./case of 36 so it doesn't hurt too badly when you break one.

Alan, can you give me a URl where they are this inexpensive? I am down to about 2 dozen, and I use them daily.

I was wondering why Pinot Noir and Burgundy require the largest bowl on the wine glass? I thought the larger bowls were to allow the wine to aerate which helps with the tannins. If Pinot Noir/Burgundy have less tannins, particulary compared to Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, why wouldn't the PNs have a smaller bowled glass?

Supposedly because wine glass companies like Riedel tested a variety of configurations with different kinds of wines and the Burgundy bowl worked best with Pinot Noir, in their opinions.

I agree with the configuration for Burgundy (I've tested them in a few different shaped glasses), but I was at a wine dinner the weekend before last and a California Pinot Noir was poured into a Riedel Bordeaux glass for my wife, I guess because the restaurant ran out of Burgundy glasses. We both agreed that the California Pinot Noir tasted better in the Bordeaux glass.

Wines vary so much relative to winemaking, terroir, vintage, vine and age. You might expect that one glass configuration wouldn't necessarily best fit all wine derived from a single type of grape or group of grapes.

We don't play much Burgundy Roulette these days, but we do drink nice serviceable Burgs, Crus Beaujolais, and Left Coast Pinots out of some nice glasses we picked up at an outlet twenty or thirty years ago. They are long stemed, have a miniature fish bowl on top, with a nice thin rim. We use them alot, have moved them three times, and still have five of the original six.

They do give a nice nose to what's in them, and agree with others on this point.

I was at a wine dinner the weekend before last and a California Pinot Noir was poured into a Riedel Bordeaux glass for my wife, I guess because the restaurant ran out of Burgundy glasses. We both agreed that the California Pinot Noir tasted better in the Bordeaux glass.

The Cali Pinot probably had less aroma and more alcohol than most Bordeaux. The less-bulbous shape and wider lip may prevent the booze from taking focus.


Prost!
Bill

[Jenise]

Covert, alcohol and expectations play fairly equally in how wine shows in any glass.

My favorite new all-around red glass is the Schott Zwiesel "Mature Red" in the titanium line. Wide base, narrow opening. I thought I'd find them a bit too confining for new wines, but you know what? I tend to prefer almost everything but pinot noir (yes, even Californians, though I rarely drink them less than five years of age) in that glass. Most everything else just smells too alcoholic and taste too loose/blowsy/big in my Speiglau Bordeaux glasses. Which confuses me, I would think the smaller the opening, the more concentrated the aromas, even bad ones like alcohol. But in practice, I find the narrower opening gives me the tauter flavors I want and the concentrated aromas, too. Time and again, I start out in the other glass and then move over.

Maybe that's what the Bordeaux glass does for you compared to the burg bowl.

Bob,
I get mine from Arton Glass in Virginia. 804-462-0948
http://www.artonglass.emerchant.pro.com
e-mail artonglass@sylvaninfo.net
The Viticole INAO 7 1/4 oz. glass is part #3022166
They deal mostly in decorated glassware, but if you ask they will sell cases of undecorated glass at what I think are very good prices.
Best

I currently keep 5 sets of glasses easily accessible (in other words, not in basement):
Schott Zwiesel White Burgundy/Chardonnay
Schott Zwiesel Bordeaux
Spiegelau Burgundy
Schott Zwiesel Riesling/Rose
Riedel flutes

Except for dinner parties, we pretty much use the dishwashable Schott Zwiesels. I'm geeky enough to enjoy using various glasses, but if I needed to chose one glass I'd probably be quiter happy using the Chardonnay glasses (13.5 oz) for everything. I already use it for some reds such as Beaujolais, Chianti, etc (it's about the same size as the Riedel Chianti/Zinfandel glass I think). It might not be optimum for big reds, but they do better in it that most whites swimming around in a huge bowl.