Does the glass matter?

So the question is, does the type of glassware make any difference to the taste and smell of a wine, or is it just a load of marketing spin? We at Winepunters HQ were firmly in the 'spin’ camp until recently. At the 2011 “Taste of the Tamar” in Hobart we were invited to a Plumm Glassware masterclass (okay, who did you bribe? - Ed). Fearing this was going to be the wine equivalent of a time share presentation we were a little reluctant but the chance to try some free wine convinced us it was worth the risk.

We sat down and prepared ourselves for the hard sell. As expected, there was a bit about Plumm, their history, and why they came up with the glass designs that they have. However, Dana Morris (Plumm glassware designer) delivered it clearly, professionally and, more importantly, quickly.

But then things started to get interesting. Dana went on to explain that as wines benefit with the addition of oxygen (hence why a lot of swirling of wine goes on at a wine tasting), and our impressions of a wine are made up of 70% smell, a glass should be designed so that it delivers the aromas of a wine in the best possible way. 

Even though taste is only 30% of our impression of a wine, it is still important to get it right. When you take a sip the glass should deliver the wine to the correct areas of the palette to enhance that particular wine. A lot of tasting glasses have such a small opening that you need to consciously swirl the wine around your mouth to experience the full taste sensation. Plumm took all of this into account whilst conducting rigorous ‘research’ travelling around Europe trying many different wines in many different styles of glassware. Sounds gruelling, don’t you think??!!

All this work produced 5 distinct glasses. One for lighter whites, one for heavier whites, like oaked chardonnay, one for pinots and other similar reds and one for the big boys like cabernet and durif. The master class was formatted around these glasses. The intention was that we would try four wines selected from the Taste of the Tamar exhibitors in the relevant Plumm glass and then in that old standby the XL5. The wines on show were a 2010 Sharmans Riesling, a 2004 Providence Chardonnay, a 2005 Native Point Pinot Noir, and a 2008 Sharmans Cabernet Merlot.

Wow, is pretty much all we can say to sum up our overall reaction! The Sharmans Riesling was so lively and fresh in the crystal glass that we almost had to do our happy dance. But wait a minute, we had to try the wine again in a standard tasting glass. "Oh my god, this can’t possibly be the same wine", we thought. It was flat and lifeless, not something we like to say about any Tassie wine. Pour it back into the crystal glass and happy, happy, joy, joy! 

This has ramifications for the industry. We simply wouldn't have bought the Shamans riesling if we'd tasted it in the standard glass.  We formed the same opinion about the Providence Chardonnay. 

Then it was on to the reds. We found with the reds that the overall effect wasn’t as significant. Mind you, drinking pinot out of a crystal glass that holds a full bottle of wine (I only had 1 glass occifer – Ed) was a great experience. It does make you feel just a little special.

So, you might ask, what does all this mean? We discovered that the glassware can and does have an effect on your wine tasting experience, so much so that we have invested in some Plumm glassware of our own for all future Winepunters tasting events. If your wine tasting experience is of the utmost importance to you, and you can afford it, you should invest in some good quality crystal glassware. 

We're not saying rush out and buy Plumm, there are other glass makers out there, but you can experience this for yourself more cheaply. If you, like us, are of a certain age you will have received chunky crystal glassware as a present for significant events, like weddings or the 21st. If so dig them out and do your own at home tasting to see what a difference it does make. Sure they may not have the fancy design but you should still notice an improvement.

Of course, not everyone can afford to drink out of crystal glasses every day so what should you do if you can’t? Absolutely nothing, keep drinking wine in whatever glassware you like, as long as you’re enjoying every little drop. 

Talking about that, where’s the pinot and that vegemite jar ... you have to experiment you know!.

What do you think? Send us a comment