Do Wine Glasses Make A Difference?

Wine 101: The Basics
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A lot of it is marketing. Obviously an oaked CA Chardonnay is very different from a German riesling, but both would be served in the “white wine glass.” I assume that’s why Grassl/Glasvin went with a naming scheme that isn’t so prescriptive. Some whites you do want room to breathe, for me, reductive white burgundy - hence I enjoy those out of Liberte or the Cru or the Zalto BDX. I actually like the Zalto BDX for red burgundy as well, even though it’s a “BDX” glass. I also like champagne from the Liberte and not from a flute. I like Zalto Uni for riesling, though never tried the mineralite and apparently my nose will fit. [snort.gif]

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On Saturday we conducted our glass comparison test with 8 wines and 1 Champagne. The wines generically fit within the categories of Red & White Burgundy, Bordeaux and Piedmont. We tested Grassl (Cru, Liberte and 1855), Zalto (Burgundy and Bordeaux) and Reidel (Montrachet, Burgundy, Champaigne, Bordeaux) with the objective to determine if bowl width, shape, height, glass thickness and opening aperture would have a discernible impact on aroma and taste.

The results of our tests were remarkable, because they shattered our preconceived notion on the impact of glass design on flavor. Would science support our conclusions? I don’t know, but these were experienced wine collectors and all detected variations in both aroma and taste, with the notable exception of a 2001 Barolo. In some cases the difference in aromas were subtle and in others it was so stark it seemed like were testing a different wine. Making things even more difficult from a buyer’s perspective was the fact some tests showed we enjoyed the aroma from the Zalto, but preferred the taste in Grassl or Reidel glasss. That said, Zalto held its own in both aroma and taste on Bordeaux wines such as Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Merlot blend.

The overall winner for whites was the Grassl Liberte, with 3 out of 4 picking it over the Zalto Burgundy glass when comparing a 2014 Aubert Sugar Shack Chard. All four of thought the nose and taste of a '08 Fevre Chablis performed better in the Liberte. Going in I was thinking Champagne may perform well in the Liberte, however the aroma and flavor performed better in a more traditional Champagne glass. Although the glass was not fluted. It was more like a small white wine glass.

The Grassl Cru garnered three out of four votes when comparing a Burgundy Pinot Noir.

In summary we concluded that glass design contribute to variations in both aroma and taste. Now the fun part, how do I fill out the collection? Hard to go wrong with either Grassl or Zalto, both performed well and everyone liked the shapes and feel of the glasses in their hands.

Here’s a list of wines used during the test:

2015 Marc Herbart Special Club Champagne
2008 Domaine William Fevre Chablis (Grand Cru)
2014 Aubert ‘Sugar Shack’ Chardonnay
2016 Domaine Pierre Gilin Fixin Pinot Noir
2001 Rocche Dei Manzoni Barolo
2012 Paradigm Cabernet Franc
2012 Tor Bestoffer To Kalon Anniversary Cuvee
2009 M Etain (Scarecrow) Cabernet Sauvignon
2014 Blankiet Rive Droite

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Many thanks for the input. I’ll will conduct trials myself and report back (but it will take some time to gather enough data).

For the reds it will be:

Zalto Bdx vs Zalto Burg vs Gabriel Gold vs Grassl Cru vs Grassl 1855 (still trying to get the Conterno Sensory but they won’t ship it due to its super fragile nature).

For Champagne it will be:

Zalto Universal vs Zalto Champagne vs Lehmann Grand Champagne vs Josephinenhütte Champagne vs Gabriel Gold

For whites it will be:

Zalto Universal vs Grassl Liberte vs Grassl Minerality vs Gabriel Gold vs Zalto Bdx vs Zalto Burg (and the Conterno Sensory if I get my hands on it)

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Interesting report Dave, thanks for posting. (N.B. I sell Grassl). As I think others have mentioned, I find Champagne from Liberté ok but much prefer it from the Mineralité. Same can be said for Chablis. I think any wine (white or red) that accentuates acidity is enhanced by Mineralité.

To this point, Andy, I suggest you consider including it in your Champagne lineup.

This thread certainly puts the Berserker in Wine Berserker [berserker.gif]

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Will definitely do - makes a lot of sense.

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Great report, Dave!

And I’m going to repeat my prior request for those looking to do this test. Phase 1 is to do something like what Dave just described. This leads to a hypothesis that, for example, Grassl Liberté is better for both Chablis and California chardonnay and that Grassl Cru is better for red Burgundy. Phase 2 is then to test that hypothesis on a different day with different wines of the same type, to help determine, for example, if the Cru just happened to work better that day for that wine or if there’s something about pinot noir from Burgundy that makes it always show better in that glass (at least for that taster). So such a test might have four different red Burgs, from different vintages and villages, each tasted in the Cru plus one or more competing glasses. Even better if it’s blind so that the tasters don’t know that this is the “Burgundy” flight or that the Cru was the choice for Burgundy in Phase 1, if such a thing is possible.

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I agree and the intention is to make this a multi-phased test. We had blindfolds at the ready, but concerns about spilling on clothes pushed the blindfolds aside. In all honesty knowing what glass the wine was in did not prejudice the results for any of us and we were largely in agreement in our perceptions.

Andy sc - I’ll be eager to hear your results from this test:

For whites it will be:

Zalto Universal vs Grassl Liberte vs Grassl Minerality vs Gabriel Gold vs Zalto Bdx vs Zalto Burg (and the Conterno Sensory if I get my hands on it).

I’m thinking about purchasing the Zalto Universal and the Grassl Minerality for a comparison.

… and yes, this is beserked and expensive! [wow.gif]

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I just received as a birthday gift a couple Zalto universal glasses [cheers.gif] just the placebo effect is good enough for me to think they make a difference!

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Can someone advise me, if the shape of the wine glass affects how long the alcohol fumes escapes? ( for the wine to breathe) and whats the best recommendation for like a holiday get together and serving cabernet? I only have 2 standard sets, regular with stem, and one that is without stem, standard shape.

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The larger the bowl the more contact surface area. This larger bowl should allow for more alcohol fumes to escape in a shorter period of time. That said, the more time in the glass the more alcohol will be released. You may want to decant before serving.

Note: I have no scientific data to support the larger bowl theory.

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Lisa - A separate consideration in choosing between your two options is that often at a holiday get together people tend to be holding their wine glass more (moving around the room, while standing and talking to someone, etc) as opposed to it primarily resting on the table as might be the case at a meal. A glass with a stem allows you to hold the glass by the stem rather than the bowl, which prevents your hands from warming the wine inside the glass. I find most red wine benefits significantly from being served cool (I start at cellar temperature and adjust from there) and is negatively impacted as it starts to warm toward room temperature. A stemless glass will speed this warming process. I find more use for stemless glasses for picnics where you might not have a flat level surface to place a tall stemmed glass. The stemless variety is by nature much more stable.

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I have found the wider and flatter the bowl the quicker you can dispense of the pesky alcohol burn off as I call it. I also find that this style of glass also tends to improve the overall experience but you might find a different reaction as everyone’s palette is different.

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We have a pretty wide range of stems at home (on a per-use basis it seems like a no brainer if we don’t break them):

  • Riedel Veritas
  • Plumms
  • Gabriel Glas Gold
  • Zaltos (Uni, Burg, BDX)
  • Jancis

Do the glasses make a difference, as mentioned on here and at least to our novice noses and palates - they certainly do. There isn’t really a perfect glass though and as we are still trying to build our reference points, we tend to try a wine with a few different glasses to compare and see if it makes a difference.

More often than not we will default to the Zaltos or GGG, mainly as we had the Zalto stems earlier on so it’s a good marker for us, and in general, it seems more clinical and precise (unfortunately the flaws are more evident as mentioned). In contrast, the GGG are just light in the hand and for a universal seems to show most of the wines we are drinking quite well.

Can’t comment on Grassl beyond the fact that Chris and Alex are great, but we haven’t picked any up where we live just yet.