The Auswine Forum

I think you would be surprised. Ridel are probably the best known for wine glasses.
They even have a wine and glass guide:
http://www.wineglassguide.com/
Pick your wine and they will recommend a glass to suit. then visit their website for all the details.
As you can see from the site there appears to be a lot of science that goes into it...

The claim is that different shaped glasses are better at accenting the aroma of different wines.

Riedel make expensive glasses titled "burgundy", "claret", "shiraz" etc, made out of crystal.

Spiegalau make very convincing imitations of these glasses which are not crystal, but are the same shape with slightly thicker stems. This is a good thing, because the stems on Riedels tend to break, particularly if you try to wash them up after drinking from them!

Personally, I find that the shape that Riedel call shiraz in Australia works very well for pretty well all red wine, and the shape they call riesling is fine for white wine (though so is the shape the call shiraz, really).

I would buy either the Spigelau equivalents, as they are fine (I have dozens of them), or similar shaped and sized glasses.

YOu want;

1.) Reasonably thin glass, as this feels nicer in the hand, and gives you a sort of "feel" for the wine.
2.) Quite large volume (about 600 ml or so).
3.) A glass that becomes narrower as it reaches the top, to concentrate the aroma.

Others may feel that it is reasonable to buy different shapes for different varieties or styles. I would be interested to hear their explanation as to why.

I agree with Orpheus, the Riedel Vinum and the Spiegalau's are both really good glasses, and I don't mind the slightly cheaper Schott Zwiesel (Shiraz are good, or the huge Grand Cru Bordeaux) either. The more you pay, the nicer they seem to feel when you're tasting, but not a huge amount in it, and the fancy ones do definitely break easier.

I would just get 3 sizes, a huge one for big reds, a medium size one for whites, and champagne flutes. Or just get 2, bubbly flutes, and a decent big glass, but not too huge.

Or you could get a set of these

900ml , lovely black stem, price is for 1 http://www.everten.com.au/product/Riedel-Sommelier-Black-Tie-Burgundy.html

Cheers
Tim

My house-faves are the Riedel Magnum catering jobbies. If you can get them through an industry contact, they're good value and present most wines well, red or white. Easy to break, though not nowhere near as painful on the pocket when they do.

If you live in Melbourne, or have occasion to visit there, it's worth stopping at Hotel Agencies in Nicholson St.

http://www.hotelagencies.com.au/index.p ... ion_id=11#

They often have stemware on sale that is a fraction of the normal retail price. Not quite sure what you may find online. I live in Adelaide and bought three dozen Spieglau glasses for less than $6 each that would have cost $20 at retail. They shipped them to Adelaide at a very reasonable rate and they all arrived intact. Saved myself a few hundred dollars.

Tristram Shandy

Most everything about Riedel, Spiegelau, and Schott Zweisel has already been said. The Riedels for the restaurant trade are not only less expensive but they are sturdier too.

For those who need some reasonably light all purpose glasses for parties and everyday use try the ones from Dan Murphy. They're $10 for six glasses and fits in the dishwasher.

Cheers.............Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:For those who need some reasonably light all purpose glasses for parties and everyday use try the ones from Dan Murphy. They're $10 for six glasses and fits in the dishwasher.

Cheers.............Mahmoud.

I would second Mahmoud. They are also very close in shape to the Riedel Vinum Chardonnay glasses - at a quick glance they could be mistaken for them. Not the same quality of course, but excellent for everyday use.

p.s. I have just had a look at the Riedel website. I think my Riedel Vinum Chardonnay glasses have been superseded (but I have owned them for quite a while!).

Not sure if its also true for Target in Oz, but here in the US at least Target sells the Riedel Vivant glasses ($10/stem) and decanter. To me, they look very much like the Vinum glasses.

Mike

KMP wrote:Not sure if its also true for Target in Oz, but here in the US at least Target sells the Riedel Vivant glasses ($10/stem) and decanter. To me, they look very much like the Vinum glasses.

Mike

I suspect these are the glass riedels which we can only buy from hospitality industry sources (not retail).

After many years of trial and error I have 3 different sorts of wine glasses.

1. I have a set of 4 Riedel Vinums - the huge (and hugely expensive) ones. These are sensational to drink out of for a special wine at a special occasion. The sort of wine you don't want to share with more than 4 people anyway. They are very nice to drink out of, very impressive and very fragile. You need to wash these by hand as soon as you have finished with them, and you don't want to be too drunk when you do it.

2. For everyday use (and I do mean every day) I use Riedel 'O' series glasses. These are the same shape and crystal as the good ones but they don't have a stem. When they first came out I hated the idea of them. Then a friend gave me a set for christmas and I have used them everyday since. Not only that, but I have bought more of them so that I now have maybe 16 of them. The great thing about these is that they are a lot cheaper (wait till your local store has a special and order an 8 pack). Plus they go through the dishwasher without any problems. The only time we have had any broken is usually when one of our labrodors tails swishes a glass off the coffee table on the way past.

3. For large parties I have about 6 or 7 dozen cheapies that I bought from Ikea. Probably similar to the Dan's ones mentioned above. You can buy these glasses for about the same money that it costs to hire them when you are organising a function. They just live on a shelf in the cellar and get bought out when we have large gatherings - maybe once or twice a year. I can't bring myself to drink good wine out of plastic and I don't expect anyone else to either. If any get broken I don't really care - I'll just go and buy some more when I need to.

For durability take a look at the titanium crystal-ware they are significantly tougher - yes, I've practiced with both

GG

KMP wrote:Not sure if its also true for Target in Oz, but here in the US at least Target sells the Riedel Vivant glasses ($10/stem) and decanter. To me, they look very much like the Vinum glasses.

Mike

They're made out of multiple parts so they don't look as nice. For a little more you can get Vinums or for that same price you can get Spiegelau or Schott Zwiesel glasses that are comparable to the Vinums...

It's a good marketing idea by Riedel and they're fairly decent glasses but you can definitely find better for less/same...