Tasting the Difference

By Laurence Civil

When the pleasure of drinking wine is added to food, it is then dining. To optimize the wine drinking experience all our senses should be fully activated and a major contributing factor to achieve that is our choice of glassware.

A good wine glass is supposed to have a clear and smooth mouth rim that’s cut and polished without beads. The bowl must have a thin wall so as to
‘feel less of the glass and taste more of the wine’.
The glass ought to be crystal clear and pore-free so that the true colour of the wine is not obstructed plus the glass itself should be free of taste as well as smell. The stems should be tall enough that the warmth of the hand isn’t transferred to the bowl and the wine. This is especially important with dry and semi-dry wines; the bottom plate should enable the glass to stand firm, wobble free.

The shape of the glass determines how and to which part of the tongue the wine is delivered. The back detects bitterness; inner sides of the tongue detect acidity and sourness; the outsides and just behind the tip detect saltiness whereas the tip detects sweetness. Moreover, the tongue detects other qualities such as astringency, roughness, smoothness, weight, overall balance, length and after taste. Much of the ‘flavours’ we taste are in fact scents detected by our olfactory glands. The oro-pharynx at the back of our throat also allows us to experience the physical sensation of ‘length’ of flavour. In addition to temporal length, long wines give a clear sensation of physical length. We sense their flavours all along the length of our mouth, at the rear of the tongue reaching way back into our throat.

An inward curving bowl concentrates the flow of the wine into a narrow stream that has more velocity and is directed to the mid as well as the back palate where acidity is detected. In contrast, an outward curving bowl spreads the wine out into a broad stream with less velocity that immediately reaches the tip of the tongue where sweetness is detected.

Wines that need to be drunk chilled are best served in smaller glasses. The size of the glass generally grows with the level of complexity of aromas and flavours. Complex wines prefer big sized glasses. The inward curving bowl allows for swirling to coat the inner-side of the bowl fully with a thin film of wine, allowing for bouquet formation and retention. The large surface area exposure permits the wine to breathe.

Looking at the different wine styles aids in the selection of glasses to serve them in. Light white wines are high in acidity and have low alcohol, medium to high fruit along with low complexity.
Full white wines have medium acidity and medium to high alcohol, fruit plus complexity. Light red wines have high acidity, low to medium alcohol, medium to high fruit, low tannins and low to medium complexity. Finally full red wines have medium to high acidity, high alcohol, and medium to high fruit, tannins as well as complexity.

I was curious to try for myself if drinking wine from different glasses does affect the taste of the same wine. Therefore, Italasia was contacted as the agents for Schott Zwiesel in Thailand to arrange a practical glass tasting session for me in their tasting room to see if I could taste the difference.

We tasted the top of the range Zwiesel 1872’s
THE FIRST by Enrico Bernardo, the world’s best Sommelier. Rather than making a glass for a
specific grape or region, Enrico created a range that serves the style of the wine such as soft, fresh white, full bodied white, the young and the mature, soft and full bodied red wines, enabling wine connoisseurs to find a suitable bowl for every wine label and every wine style. The glasses helped release the wines aroma, taste and visual beauty giving the right space for the wine to breathe. This revolutionary design concept of matching glass to wine styles won
‘THE FIRST’ the coveted “red dot award”.

To start with the white wines; Lungarotti Pinot Grigio, fresh and fragrant made no impression when tasted from a normal Paris glass, however, from the stylish Aromatic White Wine glass, just as I was lifting the glass the aromas were going directly where it should, followed by a luxurious touch as the glass touched my lips. The wine was noticeably drier in this glass.

We then moved onto Chateau Roc de Minvielle, Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux’s Entre deux Mers region, a fruit wine that is a blend of Sauvignon and Semillon. If some one had been making a buying decision based on their experience from a Paris goblet, they would have most likely passed on this wine. However, when tasted from the Young Oaky White Wine glass, we noticed that the wine’s character changes to be full, elegant and beautiful.

To complete the white wine taste comparisons we tasted Beni di Batasiolo Serbato, Langhe doc Chardonnay that when tasted from a Paris glass the flavours were going all over the place in the mouth yet from the Soft Mature White Wine glass it changed to have a very elegant taste.

Now we moved onto the reds; starting with Mandra Rossa Merlot from Menfi, Sicily. Tasting from
a normal glass, the wine felt flat, but when tasted from the Full-bodied Red Wine glass it focused on the subtle aromas direct to the nose plus also smoothed out some of the wine’s rough edges demonstrating how the taste of an affordable wine can be improved with the right glass.

Then onto Santa Margherita Pinot Nero alto adage doc that displays a young, fragrant and fruity style. When we tasted it from a normal glass, there were concerns that it could have been a spoiled bottle. Having then tasted it from the Mature Soft Red Wine glass, our confidence in the quality of the wine was reassured.

Finally to conclude the red wine tasting we enjoyed Castello Banfi’s Tavernelle Cabernet Sauvignon,
full-bodied red wine of incomparable bouquet.
The normal wine glass did not do it justice but the Full-bodied Mature Red Wine glass brought out the gorgeous aromas of violets, cassis and berries with an underlying mineral note; medium-bodied, with fine tannins and a sweet berry finish. A wine of this quality deserves to be appreciated in that style of glass.

The taste of each of the six wines significantly improved when enjoyed from their appropriate
‘THE FIRST’ glass. While the lead content in other makes of glass wear could be a health concern, it is not the case with Schott Zwiesel as all their crystal is made from a patented technology called Tritane®
a high quality titanium, lead-free crystal.

Currently, The China House at The Oriental Bangkok and Plaza Athenee are the only two venues pouring into this exclusive fine wine crystal glass suite.