I do believe in Riedels

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that all this hullabaloo about drinking each varietal of wine from a special glass designed just for that grape is just chock-full-o nonsense. Indeed, a well made wine should be a satisfying experience even if you guzzle it directly out 'O the jug! Oh you cause me great mirth. For I too once thought such foolish notions. A while back my wife and I bought two Riedel Pinot glasses from Williams Sonoma. They were on clearance for something like $8 a glass. So why not? Sure let's have some fun, taste some wine..... what's not to love? These were from their "Wine" series, an inexpensive, non-lead crystal with a groovy art Deco stem. Lo and behold if the difference wasn't just noticeable, but down right drastic! The character of any wine was more pronounced, the fruit more focused, the mineral vegetal more .... farmer's market. So this started a habit of tasting any wine we opened in just about every glass we owned. I highly recommend this enjoyable pastime, though you will spend a good deal of time cleaning glass ware.
But the ultimate example of the benefit, the need, the necessity of drinking wine from the proper glass came just this last weekend. My wife brought me an anniversary gift of a very nice bottle of 25 year aged Armagnac from Delord. (I say "25 year aged" and not "old" for a very good reason. Armagnac and Cognac do not mature in the bottle like wine. They age in oak until bottled, then it's over. Aging done. But! Once opened it doesn't go flat or bad like a wine will. Well, sure, they eventually will, but it takes a very long time for an open bottle of Armagnac to turn.. I've never had one opened long enough).

Anyway, the time was right! So I purchased two glasses from Reidel designed specifically for Cognac and Armagnac. From their slightly more expensive "Vinum" line. Made from lead crystal (no, not so much that you'll poison yourself. Relax), cute little tulip shaped bowels and all.
So!! Line up the testing vessels!


On the left, the new Riedel. On the right, a cheap "dessert wine" or "spirits" glass. In the middle, the biggest mistake for Cognac and Armagnac anyone has ever made, the "Brandy snifter." It's not even really any good for Brandy. I don't know exactly what it's for.




Line up the said 25 year old beauty, pour a little in each glass (o.k. I don't have a picture of the elixir in each glass, but trust me, I poured).







The very clear winner? The Riedel, easy. Here's what really happened. My wife, who normally won't drink this stuff, drinks from the Riedel. By George! She likes it! I drink from the cheap "dessert wine" glass above. LIKE A BLOWTORCH TO THE THROAT!! Holy @#@&**!! Something this expensive should not be like ingesting lighter fluid! I drink from the Riedel. All of the lovely flavors come through, cocoa, pepper, vanilla, walnut.

I kid you not. The difference was so vast as to be mind boggling! It was like gasoline in the two wrong glasses, and like a beautifully aged spirit in the Riedel. Try this yourself, pour any wine into all of the different glass ware you have and notice the difference in the way the liquid hits your tongue. You too will be a believer.