Three major red varietal wine glasses were experienced by a sizable audience during the Riedel Master Class 2014, hosted by Grech Catering Supplies last month at Le Méridien Hotel & Spa, St Julian's.
Riedel Glasswork's vice-president for Sales in Southern Europe, Marco Baldini, who hails from Chianti, Italy, conducted the session, which also featured a tasting of the all-new glass developed to drink Coca-Cola.
The current direction of this 250-year-old glass manufacturer was first pursued in 1958 by Klaus Riedel, grandfather of the current chief executive officer, Maximilian. He created the clean glass design in which form is the slave of function, inviting winemakers to say what shape improved their perception of particular wines.
Participants were first invited to experience the dynamics of the three red varietal wine glasses, to drink Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon varietal wines, by drinking cold water. The first directs the wine to the front of the mouth; the second brings in the sides of the mouth and the third allows the entire mouth to experience the feeling.
The three wines tasted on the night were an Albert Bichot Bourgogne Pinot Noir, a Syrah from Clos de Gat Winery in Israel and a Saint-émilion Grand Cru from Château Mondotte Bellisle. Mr Baldini went on to illustrate how each wine was best experienced with its specific glass and how the other two were not engineered to enhance the perception of each varietal.
The second and third wines were paired with two types of Lindt chocolate, the Syrah with Peperoncino and the Cabernet Sauvignon with dark chocolate.
The Riedel Coca-Cola glass was then introduced, illustrating how a glass can make a ubiquitous beverage like Coca-Cola taste more elegant, with smaller and fewer bubbles while enhancing the taste sensations. Mr Baldini said top Coca-Cola executives in Atlanta, USA, were asked to sample no fewer than 30 different shapes of glasses before the new design was approved.
Finally, a sample of the extensive Riedel decanter collection was displayed, all designed by Maximilian himself and handmade in Austria. These beautiful works of art remain highly functional in allowing the wine to breathe much faster and are becoming well accepted in a number of top local restaurants and in private homes, too.
A similar event for the trade was hosted that same week, with the addition of two more glasses, the generic degustazione glass and the oiked chardonnay white wine glass.