Riedel Performance wine glasses: the ultimate investment for serious oenophiles?

There’s been an old tech vs new tech debate of late…and you don’t get much older than glass. Of course, this most essential of materials has evolved over the millennia, as science has enabled it to, such that it can withstand attacks by hammer or bullet, extreme heat or cold and just about anything else that might conspire to damage it. But how much high-tech-ery can one apply to the venerable wine glass?

Small confession: I adore wine, but treat it with far too much reverence, not least because 1) I do not wish to flirt with alcoholism and 2) because I only drink vino that I can't afford. It’s the latter that has fired my curiosity about wine glasses, and I even own a set of Zalto glasses, specified for big, bold reds, which are so precious that I’m afraid to use them.

Somewhere along the way, it was drilled into me that fine wine deserves fine drinking vessels, which makes me perk up whenever I hear the name “Riedel.” That said, I admit to chuckling when I saw a press release headed “Introducing Riedel Performance; the new ultimate loudspeaker for fine wine.”

At first, I though Riedel had gone into the hi-fi business, for “loudspeakers” means only one thing to me: audio equipment. I guess that in this case, however, the prolix copywriter confused it to mean a herald of new glassware.

Then my brain rewound a few words to the third: “performance.” Since when was there even a measure of “performance” related to something as fixed, as passive, as unalterable as a wineglass? This I had to investigate.

Riedel, of course, is one of the most famous suppliers of specialist glassware, making them something like the Rolex of drinking equipment. For three generations, the company has researched and development “functional, grape-varietal-specific glassware,” so whether you’re indulging in a bordeaux or a barolo, they have the precise glass from which to sip.

Georg and Maximilian Riedel, however, set a goal to improve on what their company has already achieved. And if you think wine glasses are merely the interface between you and the bottle, think again: Riedel addresses the entire experience, including the effect of the glass on both drinker and contents.

Which brings us to the performance angle, a term - like “digital” or “artisanal” - that has been applied to so many otherwise innocuous objects as to render its meaning hyperbolic. What Riedel’s use of the term promises is “a technologically-advanced and user-friendly collection of grape-varietal-specific glasses.”

It starts with the visual, the new glasses being the first Riedel wine glass series to feature bowls “with a light optic impact.” The company’s research focussed on “improving the organoleptic wine experience.” They discovered that increasing the inner surface area of the glass had a positive impact on the perception of the bouquet and flavour of the wine. This, of course, validates the ritual every wine connoisseur undertakes before imbibing or, more dramatically, letting the sommelier to go ahead and pour for the table.

Riedel have achieved a unique optical effect with the design of the bowl. Physically, though, the intention was to increase the inner surface area, enabling the wine to open up and providing unhindered access to every aroma and subtle nuance.

Performance consists of seven machine-made, lightweight, durable (and dishwasher-safe) shapes. They are made of fine sparkling crystal and feature slim stems and large stable bases. While none of my grapes are represented - if it ain’t Italian, I ain’t interested - the serious oenophile can select glasses to suit chardonnay, Champagne, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, syrah and spirits. The glasses are numbered from RP-1 to RP-7, the code ensuring that the user has matched the glass to a specific grape varietal.

Most people aren’t that bothered about wine glass minutiae, but I do have to admit that there’s something about an inch of Brunello in the bottom of a glass with an opening almost big enough to accept one’s fist. Riedel’s new range will certainly find adherents among those who adore, in particular, French and American wines worthy of such goblets.

Do I mind the anti-Italian omission? Not a bit: with glasses as fine as these, I’d be afraid to use them even if they did one just for my beloved Tignanello.

riedel.com