Good Morning!

I recently watched Leslie Sbrocco (The Orginial Thirsty Girl and wine author) on the Kathy Lee and Hoda show and she said the most brilliant thing about wine glasses…any glass with wine in it becomes a wine glass! Brilliant! I have personally always loved my Riedel wine glasses and at one point I had a bunch of different glasses that all were for different grape varietals. But then I got real about how much cabinet space I had when I moved to San Francisco and my apartment was really spacial challenged.

Years ago when I still drank a lot of wine from boxes, I loved those thick wine glasses with fun designs on them. I have grown up a bit since then, but wine can be good in a Ball jar or a really thin crystal stemware glass. I have tried them all over the years and I have spent a fortune and been sick when I heard that crack sound that only means one thing…it is broken and there is nothing you can do to fix it.

I actually have been really careful and I have had one glass that I have tasted out of at home for over 10 years…and it has lived through a cross country move. I went to a wine tasting party hosted at Kuhn’s fine wines in Carmel, Indiana, the evening was sponsored by Riedel the company that makes fantastic glasses. I was not convinced a glass would make a difference in the wine…I was wrong! We tried a $6 bottle of wine in a water glass, then a not so expensive wine glass, then a mid ranged priced glass, then the Riedel glass…each sip I became more aware of the differences in the aromas I could better connect with, each sip helped the wine hit my tongue in different places and forced the wine to new areas of my taste buds. I was blown away. I wanted to try every wine in two of three glasses for the next couple of years.

It seemed to me that the glass does take a good wine to a level ….So that is when I spent a ton on the entire Riedel wine glass set. I still have the one glass I have tasted in for years. Many folks make great glasses and recently I have fallen in love with the idea that you do not need a ton of different glasses and I love that many people are now drinking champagne out white wine glasses, the theory being that the flutes all revolve around keeping the bubbles tight, fast and furious. But if you pour the bubbly in a wider white wine glass, you will get way more aromas, pick up more of the beautiful acidity and if you are worried about losing the bubbles, drink faster!!

Recently, I found some really great glasses by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson called, The One. She has designed one white wine glass and one red wine glass and they work beautifully for all the wines I have tried. They are not as pricey as my beloved Riedel glasses, but the are about $50 for 2 glasses.

Anyway, just wanted to share with you what I have learned about wine glasses…but really, I have had Rose’ in a jar, Chardonnay in a tumbler, Cabernet in a high ball glass….when you want to enjoy wine, find something to put the wine in and it is instantly transformed into a wine glass.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi