Merriam-Webster defines the word sommelier as: "a waiter in a restaurant who has charge of wines and their service: a wine steward." Actually, the term encompasses more than just that. A true sommelier is someone with an intimate and extensive knowledge of wine, wine serving, and wine and food pairing. To me, it sounds like a dream job...I can dream, can't I? It's a more specialized job than just a waiter serving wine. In fact, a true sommelier is charged with sourcing and stocking wine, managing the cellar, carefully selecting wines to complement a restaurant's fare and interacting with customers. This person lives and breathes wine and is dedicated to enhancing the wine-drinking experience for an establishment's patrons. Heroes, in my humble opinion! It's no wonder that Riedel, one of the most preeminent manufacturers of crystal wine glasses, named their premier varietal-specific line of wine tasting glasses the "Sommeliers" collection.
Claus Riedel - Crystal Visionary
More than 50 years ago, professor Claus J. Riedel set out on a quest to design crystal wine glasses that were specific to each type of the beverage. He was a pioneer who understood that the size and shape of crystal glasses were of utmost importance when it came to the bouquet, taste, balance and finish of a wine or a spirit. His design work revolutionized the way glasses were produced, because up until that time a wine glass was not unique--the only variable was the size of it. His research and development resulted in a focus on three things: the bowl, stem and base. No frivolous ornamentation or decoration, just simple, elegant wine glasses designed according to the Bauhaus principle of form following function. It was a simple yet groundbreaking endeavor. Sadly, Claus Riedel passed away in 2004, but his contribution to fine crystal stemware lives on and as a result of it, we know and appreciate that the type of glass used for tasting wine is as important as the wine itself. Kudos and thank you, Claus!
The Riedel Sommeliers Collection
Introduced in 1973, the Riedel Sommeliers glass line quickly garnered worldwide attention for excellence. The varietal-specific (meaning wine from a single grape type) glasses are produced taking every characteristic of each wine type into account. There are three variables when creating a wine-specific glass: size, shape and rim diameter. As an example, Bordeaux-specific glasses typically have a large, tall bowl. A perfect illustration of this would be the Riedel Sommeliers Bordeaux Grand Cru wine glass for red wine. It's simple in design--no frills. It is specifically designed for the heavier reds of the Bordeaux region of France. It has an impressive, large bowl that provides the appropriate surface area for full-bodied reds to be swirled, opening up the nose of the wine and evaporating the alcohol taking into account the interaction of the fruits, minerals, acids, tannins and alcohol. The tall height of the bowl allows for the optimal amount of oxygen to fill the glass, enabling the person drinking it to experience a heightened sense of the aroma, or bouquet of the wine. The cut rim allows the wine to direct smoothly onto the center of the tongue, creating the perfect balance of fruit, tannin and acidity. This is just one example of the Sommeliers collection and its varietal-specific wine glasses--they offer a different design for each type of wine...30 in all. All of the Sommeliers wine glasses are executed in lead crystal and mouth blown in Austria.
So, unleash the wine sommelier in your soul and experiment with varietal-specific wine glasses. You will be shocked at how the taste varies from wine glass to wine glass. It truly does make a difference.
Cheers!
Claus Riedel - Crystal Visionary
More than 50 years ago, professor Claus J. Riedel set out on a quest to design crystal wine glasses that were specific to each type of the beverage. He was a pioneer who understood that the size and shape of crystal glasses were of utmost importance when it came to the bouquet, taste, balance and finish of a wine or a spirit. His design work revolutionized the way glasses were produced, because up until that time a wine glass was not unique--the only variable was the size of it. His research and development resulted in a focus on three things: the bowl, stem and base. No frivolous ornamentation or decoration, just simple, elegant wine glasses designed according to the Bauhaus principle of form following function. It was a simple yet groundbreaking endeavor. Sadly, Claus Riedel passed away in 2004, but his contribution to fine crystal stemware lives on and as a result of it, we know and appreciate that the type of glass used for tasting wine is as important as the wine itself. Kudos and thank you, Claus!
The Riedel Sommeliers Collection
Introduced in 1973, the Riedel Sommeliers glass line quickly garnered worldwide attention for excellence. The varietal-specific (meaning wine from a single grape type) glasses are produced taking every characteristic of each wine type into account. There are three variables when creating a wine-specific glass: size, shape and rim diameter. As an example, Bordeaux-specific glasses typically have a large, tall bowl. A perfect illustration of this would be the Riedel Sommeliers Bordeaux Grand Cru wine glass for red wine. It's simple in design--no frills. It is specifically designed for the heavier reds of the Bordeaux region of France. It has an impressive, large bowl that provides the appropriate surface area for full-bodied reds to be swirled, opening up the nose of the wine and evaporating the alcohol taking into account the interaction of the fruits, minerals, acids, tannins and alcohol. The tall height of the bowl allows for the optimal amount of oxygen to fill the glass, enabling the person drinking it to experience a heightened sense of the aroma, or bouquet of the wine. The cut rim allows the wine to direct smoothly onto the center of the tongue, creating the perfect balance of fruit, tannin and acidity. This is just one example of the Sommeliers collection and its varietal-specific wine glasses--they offer a different design for each type of wine...30 in all. All of the Sommeliers wine glasses are executed in lead crystal and mouth blown in Austria.
So, unleash the wine sommelier in your soul and experiment with varietal-specific wine glasses. You will be shocked at how the taste varies from wine glass to wine glass. It truly does make a difference.
Cheers!
Louis Cooper is a 37 year veteran of the retail trade. An avid wine connoisseur, in 2007 he started OnWineTime to offer the wine enthusiast the finest wine glasses, decanters and wine accessories from around the world. Located in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, OnWineTime carries over 300 different wine and beer glasses and over 100 wine and spirit decanters from the top glass producers in the world, including Riedel, Schott Zwiesel, Wateford, Eisch, Spiegelau, Peugeot, Ravenscroft and Nachtmann. The real wine and beer glass superstore.
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