Reidel Stemware

I know Reidel does these things several times per year but tonight I'm going to this;

Binny's in Lakeview
MAXIMILIAN RIEDEL TO HOST RIEDEL SEMINAR
Tuesday, October 23, 6:30-8:30pm
Led by Maximilian Riedel, 11th generation glassmaker and CEO of Riedel Crystal of America, this unique seminar will showcase the flagship “Riedel Vinum” line of crystal stemware. Maximilian will take participants through a tasting of several varietal wines using 4 Riedel Vinum glasses, each designed for a particular varietal. The wines will then be tasted in a non-Riedel glass and comparisons made. This sensory tour will identify the aromatic and taste profiles of each wine in each glass, and participants will judge which they prefer. The results will astonish you!

Anyone else going?

Moderator's. If this feels too commercial (and by no means is it) feel free to delete or move.

I'm not going to this one, as I have already been to one, and I am a believer. I think there is another thread about this somewhere else. But, I am interested in your experience.
I swear I was not "talked into" thinking the wines tasted differently as others have suggested.

$75 Binny’s Card members / $85 non-members.

I believe that by paying and going (or even just going, knowing that the manufacturer is sponsoring / naming the event), there is already a subconscious predisposition in operation.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 9&start=30

I know you'll have fantastic wine, and if the glasses work for you, great; they're certainly stylin'. But most of the sommeliers with whom I've spoken, and for whom wine is a full-time job, have tried every glass conceivable and don't think there is a particular Reidel advantage (edit: over other glassmakers using similar shapes. I don't dispute that milennia of glassmaking have led to the knowledge that different shapes deliver different notes, and have an appropriate range in my own cabinets at home. I just offer that Reidel has a rather overweening pride and is not the supernatural / magic glass that some celebrate it to be).

Santander wrote: But most of the sommeliers with whom I've spoken, and for whom wine is a full-time job, have tried every glass conceivable and don't think there is a particular Reidel advantage.

I don't think there's necessarily a Riedel advantage vs. Spigleau or any of the other well designed glassware, but there is certainly a difference between general restaurant wine glassware and Riedel Vinium glassware. It's why I've occasionally brought my own glassware to restaurants depending on what we're opening that night.

BYOB and BYOG! The first time I brought stems to a restaurant my wife looked at me in horror. Now that she's figured out that she has a better nose than me, she's fine with the box of stems brought into restaurants
that have inferior glasware

My suspicion is the Riedel glasses will be contrasted with other glasses that have a different shape. The different shaped glass will make the wine taste differently. Having the appropriately shaped glass (of which Riedel has many) definitely improves the taste. I'd have to be convinced that the same shaped glass by different manufacturers makes a difference. But I am intrigued by that challenge and am trying to attend one of the tastings. Keeping the glasses is the big draw.

I am a big believer in having the right glass for spirits. I have on ocassion brought eau-de-vie glasses to restaurants to get around the arguement of putting that potable in a snifter.

I have also sent back (before the wine was poured) the big balloon glasses that Bistro 110 serves their Beaujolais Nouveau in, requesting instead small juice glasses.

MLS wrote:My suspicion is the Riedel glasses will be contrasted with other glasses that have a different shape. The different shaped glass will make the wine taste differently. Having the appropriately shaped glass (of which Riedel has many) definitely improves the taste. I'd have to be convinced that the same shaped glass by different manufacturers makes a difference. But I am intrigued by that challenge and am trying to attend one of the tastings. Keeping the glasses is the big draw.

I am a big believer in having the right glass for spirits. I have on ocassion brought eau-de-vie glasses to restaurants to get around the arguement of putting that potable in a snifter.

I have also sent back (before the wine was poured) the big balloon glasses that Bistro 110 serves their Beaujolais Nouveau in, requesting instead small juice glasses.

You are a good man, and thorough.

After attending the Reidel tasting Tuesday this is what I took away.

The evening opened with a glass of Champagne upon arrival. The program began with a nice talk about the story of the founding of Reidel. The family has been in the glass making biz for 11 generations. During WWII the comapny's equipment was seized for use in the war. Maximillian's granfather (Georg?) was captured and as a prisoner of war was sent to a camp in Italy. Once the war ended he hopped off a train and ended up working for Shirovsky (sp?) and eventually founded the Reidel company as it exists today.

Reidel puts a great degree of pride in the R and D which they put into their glassware. For instance, the Oregon Pinot Noir producers approached Reidel to make a glass for them. Reidel asked each of the Oregon pinot makers to send a case of their wine to the comapny. Reidel hired numerous sommeliers, which tasted various wines in 300 different glasses and narrowed this count to the 6 which presented the qualities which the wine makers said seperated their pinots from the rest of the world. Reidel then too these 6 glasses and sent samples back to the vintners and asked them to taste out of each glass. Taking the notes from the vintners, Reidel then made 3 hybrid glasses based on the notes from the vintners and repeated the process to pick the glass for Oregon Pinot Noir. Obviously this is a fairly arduous process.

Maximillian admitted that not long after Rediel releases a new glass, seveal other high end glass makers typically release a glass similiar to the new Reidel release. Is this "copy" better or worse in highliting a wines quality? Unlikely in my opinion.

We began by tasting a nice NZ Sauv Blanc out of a Reidel glass. Discussion was made about how the glass focuses the qualities in the wine which should be highlited. After this we poured the wine into a "joker" glass. This glass was a very generic, cheap wine glass which you might find in a Bennigans type place. The wine tasted much sweeter in this glass and had much less charecter. This was followed by pouring the wine into a plastic beer cup. Again the wine lost charecter. Finally, back into the reidel glass and wow, did the wine perk back up.

We did the same with the other three wines and the results were the same. Except one last step was added. Prior to pouring the wine into the joker glass, we poured the wine into another reidel glass. Yes, the shape does effect the taste/smell of the wine as compared to other reidel glasses.

My take away? Rediel glasses help good wine taste better as compared to cheap or plastic cups. Is it better than say a Spieglau glass? Unlikely.

The tasteing was fun and educational and I would reccomend others attend one of these events if the opportunity presents itself.

JLenart-

Thanks for the informative write-up. This will be something I'll keep in mind in case I want to upgrade my wine stems.

-The GP

The GP wrote:JLenart-

Thanks for the informative write-up. This will be something I'll keep in mind in case I want to upgrade my wine stems.

-The GP

If you choose to, I'd recommend against the Spigleau for a reason having nothing to do with taste. I've tried the Spigleau glasses a few times and they break really really easily. My vinums stand up to our dishwasher like no other glass of equal design. I wouldn't get the sommelier series as they are just too too delicate for my tastes, but the vinums are really well made. We like them so much we registered for almost the entire set for our wedding.

For what it's worth, Riedel owns Spiegelau.

I have Spiegelau Vino Grade classes for Burgundy and Champagne. They are wonderful. I haven't compared them to any of the Riedel lines. I picked these because I had heard they are quite strong (in fact, I finally pulled the trigger after reading an interview with Jean-Georges Vongerichten in which he said he uses these glasses in his restaurants).

Finally, I'm a big fan of Daniel Rogov's wine writing. Here is his take on wine glasses:

http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/buy_wine_glass.html

FWIW, Amazon has a OK deal right now for glassware

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004SUID/ref=pe_606_7310810_pe_ar_t1
Spiegelau Vino Grande Magnum Bordeaux Glasses, Set of 6
Better Together
Buy this item with Spiegelau Vino Grande Chardonnay Glasses, Set of 6

Total List Price: $150.00
Buy Together Today: $99.95

no connection yada yada yada...

For everyday drinking, I have used the reidel vinum series "gourmet" glass for almost 8 years and have never had one break in the dishwasher. I have other reidel glasses for when I break out the good stuff, but they are really too big to put in the dishwasher. The gourmet glass is compact and stable (this helps when you have kids running amok) and does a good job of bringing out the flavors and aromas of pretty much any wine. They are fairly inexpensive, in the neighborhood of 5 bucks a piece, though I havent bought them in several years.

-Will

Darren72 wrote:For what it's worth, Riedel owns Spiegelau.

I have Spiegelau Vino Grade classes for Burgundy and Champagne. They are wonderful. I haven't compared them to any of the Riedel lines. I picked these because I had heard they are quite strong (in fact, I finally pulled the trigger after reading an interview with Jean-Georges Vongerichten in which he said he uses these glasses in his restaurants).

Finally, I'm a big fan of Daniel Rogov's wine writing. Here is his take on wine glasses:

http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/buy_wine_glass.html

I've had 4 different spiegleau glasses break on me in the dishwasher, that's why i chose the riedel brand- they feel different to me.

These are my favorite portable Reidels
http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/ste ... ne+O.shtml
Mine are actually a little pink in color, I think it was a breast cancer awareness series, but they come in the perfect size box, so they are portable in carry on luggage.

jpschust wrote:My vinums stand up to our dishwasher like no other glass of equal design.

Besides fear of breakage, I've never put a wine glass in the dishwasher because of concern for residual detergent left in them, possibly affecting the wine. I've historically preferred washing and drying them by hand.

Unsightly and permanent water stains and mineral deposits left on the glass from tap water is also another concern.

Do you think these are unnecessary or real concerns?

PIGMON wrote:

jpschust wrote:My vinums stand up to our dishwasher like no other glass of equal design.

Besides fear of breakage, I've never put a wine glass in the dishwasher because of concern for residual detergent left in them, possibly affecting the wine. I've historically preferred washing and drying them by hand.

Unsightly and permanent water stains and mineral deposits left on the glass from tap water is also another concern.

Do you think these are unnecessary or real concerns?

You know it's funny you mention that because this was a discussion with my mom just last night (I think she needed a totally mundane discussion after all she's been through with the San Diego fires). I used to find, years ago, that I would get residual detergent and water stains when I was using cascade powder, but I've since tried two different detergents that don't do any of that. My favorite are the electrsol tabs that come pre-wrapped. I use these in our Miele dishwashwer and I never get residual staining or detergent. I also used to have a GE dishwasher and I used the dissolving cascade liquid packs and those worked very well as well.

For that matter, you must also be careful where you store your glassware. Besides residual detergent, you'd be surprised the odors they pick up in your kitchen or storage area just waiting to be used.

Ever had a waiter look at you funny when you start sniffing the EMPTY wine glasses at a restaurant? A buddy of mine has a wood cabinet that he stores the wine glasses in (wife's idea) and those glasses stink! Every time you pull a glass out of that cabinet, it has to be washed....

Speaking of washing glasses, I have learned to never wash glasses after guests leave, better to wait till morning!

Exactly. We did a test @ a place I'm involved in outside of Portland. In particularly, wood cabinets are the greatest offenders. Next was storage near room temp vegs. It can really throw off the nose of the bouquet and effect the flavor experience.

mhill95149 wrote:Speaking of washing glasses, I have learned to never wash glasses after guests leave, better to wait till morning!

Excellent point! It's taken me a little while (and many broken glasses) to learn that as well.

I don't use the dishwasher, either.

I prefer them hand washed too but half the time they do end up in the dishwasher. A few times I have noticed an off odor and I think it correlates with too many cooking pans also in the washer.

For hand washing I'm a fan of the Restaurant Crystal Clean all natural glass wash made by The Mill River Company.

T Comp wrote:I prefer them hand washed too but half the time they do end up in the dishwasher. A few times I have noticed an off odor and I think it correlates with too many cooking pans also in the washer.

For hand washing I'm a fan of the Restaurant Crystal Clean all natural glass wash made by The Mill River Company.

That might be a key difference- we don't wash any pots or pans in our dishwasher, we hand wash all pots, pans and knives (minus flatware).

If you don't break a wine glass once in a while you aren't drinking enough wine.

Wine glasses have a great burden in their lives. Almost by definition they are being washed when you are not at your best.