Unexpectedly thrust into wine!

Long story short. I acquired an online business selling wine/wine glasses/beer mugs and have little to no experience in any of it.
Two part question:
1.Does the type of glass truly make that much of a difference?
2.Any tips for good sources of info?! This was the first forum in my google search. Any reading on the topic would be greatly appreciated!

In response to the first question:

God YES. If you want to see the difference a glass makes try the same wine in a restaurant style glass vs. a Riedel made for that type of wine.

Second question:

If your looking for information on glassware then Riedels website is a good source (of course they are pushing their stemware lol), wine information would be any one of several websites, I know Winefolly is a good source as is wine searcher

I’d separate question #1 into two parts, aesthetics and function.

For most contributors to this forum, I take for granted that aesthetics matter a lot. When drinking a glass of fine wine might be the highlight of a day, you want to enhance the experience in every way.
For most of the world, wine and beer are something you drink without paying a lot of attention, and don’t get the fuss at all.

As for function, we all probably agree that size does matter. You just don’t get the aromas collecting and developing in a small glass. Shape is more controversial. Almost everyone agrees that a wine glass should taper in at the top. Most here include that consideration for sparkling wines and many types of beer.

When you get into exact shapes, opinions start to diverge. Some, including myself, will use differently shaped glasses almost interchangeably, as long as the size, weight, and balance are equivalent. Others are highly partisan. I’ll leave it to them to speak up defending their preferences.

This forum has many threads you can find using the search function that get deep into glassware discussions. Try searching for “stemware”, “Riedel”, “Zalto”,“Gabriel”, or even “beer glasses”.

Hi Richard

  1. Yes
  2. Arguably the best way to learn is to try for yourself. Even quite modest glasses can demonstrate a remarkable difference e.g. paris goblets vs. some modest but tulip shaped glasses. Add in a riedel, Zaalto, Schott-Zweisel or similar and line up 2-3 wines and a few friends. Then maybe later try and get to a tasting event run by one of these companies, to show the differences even between quite similar glasses.

Please excuse me making a quip about the quality of due diligence these days. You’re a braver person than me in acquiring a business you have no knowledge about!

Regards
Ian

echoing the aforementioned, HUGE difference in wine taste based on glass size/shape/thickness. Many are avoiding leaded crystal due to health concerns, though that idea separate subject.

I agree to an extent.

I’d say: separate aesthetics and function when analysing how glasses work, but then go on acknowledge that our brains integrate perceptions from many senses to create the taste of wine and determine how much we enjoy it.

For example, I don’t for a moment believe the functional argument for a thin rim to wine glass. Thick rimes do not “disrupt the flow of wine”, and even if they did it would have little effect on how the wine passes over the tongue. But I think the sensation on the lips creates an impression of a sharper, more defined, wine. This is not “just” imagination - it is a very real effect. Similarly, the visual impact of a beautiful glass is important.

Does anyone think crystal glasses are better than glass? Not the looks, I mean like does it better with taste? Personally I like wine glasses without the stem but what do you all think?

Are these posts spam?

Hire someone who actually knows the business.

Are you asking me if my reply is spam? I thought i was asking a legitimate question… I feel intimidated by this forum because even the into/ wine 101 , people know so much and I’m trying to decide how to approach/ learning about wine. Some of these posts are discouraging when literally a beginner. Sorry if my post annoys anyone. I was asking a genuine question…

Don’t be intimidated here and we always need more ladies on WB to maintain civility. Everyone was a novice in the beginning and opinions are like…everyone has one. As far as crystal, I would say no.

My personal opinion is to use what you like. When talking about quality glasses - all with thin rims, decent size bowls, etc- there is miniscule differences. I have tasted via riedel, sxhott, grassi, zalto, etc. Functionally all very similar. But like unblind tasting impacted by the label and aesthetics. an unpopular opinion as many have spent $$$ on the newest stemware innovations.

Crystal vs glass makes no difference unless you are talking about clunky waterford type thick rim or small bowl or goblet style cut crystal. Stem versus stemless is an aesthetic other than holding the bowl imparts warmth and finger prints.

Enjoy wine, It is as much art as science and your opinion is as valid as anyones

Glad you are posting here

Lisa … the folks here who try to intimidate are not real Berserkers. Very few of us are women but we are a mighty little circle of ladies and you are very welcome here! I started knowing nothing - still not sure that I “know” a lot but I have learned a lot and found wonderful genuine friends here. Ask away … and just ignore - or use the neener emoji - if anyone makes you feel intimidated!

I personally do not own high end glasses but have a favorite glass that I drink from myself. There are some very detailed - VERY detailed - discussions of the various yes and no’s of glasses in Wine Talk which you might like to skim. Remember it’s a very opinionated bunch and topics like glasses get heated but you’ll see there is no right answer except which glasses you yourself prefer … just as which wines are best are the ones you enjoy!

1 Like

I find little difference between quality glass and true crystal wine glasses. However, there is a significant difference between a quality glass whether made of glass or crystal (thin walls, thin crisp lip, good balance) and a cheap glass wine glass (heavy - thick walls - rolled lip - the kind that you might find at an inexpensive restaurant). A great way to test this is to try the same wine side-by-side in two different glasses. I bet that you will be surprised by how different the wine will taste in the two different glasses.

I would hope I’ve never been viewed on this board as mean or a bully. I noticed you made quite a few posts in a short period of time. Some of which were bringing back topics long dormant in the commerce corner. There has been some fraud in that part of the forum and so I’ve been extra suspicious.

I hope you find your time on this board to be the great experience I have. There are many wonderful people here with a vast knowledge of wine and other fine things in life.

Cheers.

My wife and I attended the Westchester Wine School probably ten years ago and the first and probably the most important thing we learned was that there is no right or wrong answer in wine, just opinions. With that said I have to agree with a few posters who recommend comparing good wine glasses with less expensive glasses and you will most likely notice a difference. I personally prefer Schot Zwiesal stemware. Best of luck with your research but remember its not what the other person likes but rather what you like.

thank you scott, siun and Eric for the words of encouragement and your advice. I only have a basic long stem aet and a stemless , both thin , both with thin , non rolled lip. I guess I’ll try to figure out the difference between certain products. But these days i just dont trust outsider reviews, esp Amazon or third party selling sites because a lot of reviews are fake. So i figured I’d start asking here. Thank you for being patient and helping with me!!!
And for jdavis, I dont see you as a bully. I haven’t been a member of a forum before. So when I first started posting, I couldn’t tell what a closed thread was and wasn’t sure where to post what., what bump means, and how this all works. I just looked at the most popular threads and started looking through there to see what I could relate to or ask questions about. The commerce corner seems to be a place where people trade or sell wines and I was interested in diversifying as the lot I inherited has a lot of repeats, like my relative was more into consumption than collecting. I’m glad i found the 101 section. Needless to say some of the things i ask are basic, but you really are looking at someone who just stepped into this… I find some of the topics at 101 are more sophisticated than i expected. I see now this is a difference between getting real life feedback versus Google most popular, possibly fake reviews ( which i completely avoided in getting wine answers to wine questions there because i just don’t trust it) of course googling the questions might have reduced my questions here but I just prefer to get real life answers that I could trust and feel live interaction. ( esp these days when I do not go out and speak to people due to COVID) any interaction, is greatly appreciated.