A TASTE OF GLASS
No such thing of course… but is there? In the wine world glassware is chosen carefully when very special and very expensive wines are on the menu. I attended a seminar with Max Reidel, the fourth generation glassware maker/designer, and I use the word designer with a large D.
Max demonstrated in dramatic fashion how glasses of different shapes and sizes can affect the taste of different varietal wines. We tasted a higher alcohol Bordeaux style red wine first in a classic Bordeaux glass that has a wide girth and a large opening that delivers the wine right to the center of the tongue. The richness and complexity of the wine were apparent as the wine spread over the tongue, down the sides and filled the mouth. Moving the wine past the tip of the tongue where we taste alcohol and sugar allows the wine’s strengths to shine.
BUT when we tasted the same wine in a white wine glass that was narrow with a smaller opening the wine was delivered directly to the tip of the tongue and the higher alcohol content was amplified by the taste receptors on that part of the tongue. The richness and complexity was drowned out by the sensation of alcohol and of bitter tannins as the wine then rushed to the back of the tongue. I was stunned by this absolute change we experienced; a great wine became a mediocre wine.
Max is convinced that we should be drinking cocktails in different glasses than we are, but in this case I have to come down on the side of tradition and stick with the iconic V-shaped cocktail glass at least for manhattans and martinis. There are older shapes that were popular in the early 20th century and the late 19th century that I also like for retro cocktails like the Bronx or cocktails like the Gibson, white lady, Stork Club, or the side car.
The small martini, which I call the “Nick and Nora glass” from Thin Man movie fame, is a small curved, rather than V-shaped, bowl on a stem and is terrific for the retro cocktails that are becoming so popular today. Also in wide use at cutting edge cocktail bars is the coupe, or Marie Antoinette glass, used widely for champagne in the19th and early 20th century. This glass was adopted by the bartenders in Havana, Cuba for their daiquiris during Prohibition when Americans flocked in droves to visit the bars of Havana.
Champagne and sparkling wines are beautiful in flute glasses with the lines of tiny bubbles running the length of the glass, but again Max is of a different mind believing the wine should dictate the glass not the bubbles. I part with Max here as well; I am still a huge fan of the flute.
The more delicate and thin the glass the more pleasing feel it has on the lips and are fine for home use, but unfortunately we also need durability at the bar and often must trade down to a sturdier glass.
Certain rules remain in place. Highballs should be served in tall glasses, rocks drink in old-fashioned glasses. An expensive scotch or bourbon over ice needs a glass with some size and heft. We don’t fill it all the way of course; it is more about the feel of the glass in the hand, the weight and fine cut. This glass cries out for big solid dense ice cubes. I am not a fan however of the large single ball of ice becoming popular in some bars. I like the feeling of clinking the large cubes together in the glass… the noise of it and the feel. The large balls just spin silently around and bump my nose each time I take a sip!
See you next week …enjoy your drinks responsibly and don’t forget to turn the lights out when you leave.
Dale aka kingcocktail
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