Ode to the proper vino vessel

by bob wesLey

About twelve years ago, I taught an introduction to wine course at a local college. We tasted wine each week, always in the second hour of the class: pouring at the outset would have resulted in a devolving atmosphere where academic attention would have flown out the window faster than an empty Pabst keg at a frat party.

I always brought the wines to sample, but the attendees were responsible for providing their own glassware. I still chuckle at the hilariously diverse and often atrocious vessels that students utilized: I encountered everything from Sierra Nevada pint glasses to Mason jars, with a few folks who brought tolerable (if clunky) stemware that was actually intended for wine consumption (rather than for guzzling beer or making apricot preserves).

I discovered a long time ago that using good glasses is integral to the full appreciation of wine, and that it’s not just some snobbish, antiquated concept that was passed down over the centuries to intimidate the uninitiated. Yes, you can certainly drink and enjoy wine, even if you sample it straight from the bottle, but without a worthwhile glass, that’s like listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (or Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon) on a transistor radio.

My favorite overall type of stemware is the traditional Burgundy glass: its tulip shape allows for maximum swirling, helps magnify aromas, and expertly delivers your favorite vinous nectar to an optimal spot on the palate, at least in my experience.

Do a side by side comparison of the same (good quality) vino in two different glasses: use a nice, big Burgundy stem and pit it against a thick, short and shallow goblet emblazoned with the “Barstow Wine Festival” logo, one that you picked up at a flea market in the ‘90s and hid in the rear of the kitchen cupboard out of embarrassment.

The difference in aromatics, flavor, palate impression and overall appreciation will be startling: you’ll be tasting two different wines, even though they were poured from the same bottle.

The easiest way to enhance wine is to make a moderate investment in sound stemware. It’s a shame to inhibit the full impact of a well crafted red or white. After all, would you visit the Louvre while wearing sunglasses, or dine at the French Laundry during a bout of sinusitis?

Bob Wesley is the owner of the Winehound Wine Shop in the La Cumbre Plaza, Santa Barbara, 805-8455247 And yes, they offer a wonderful selection of fine stemware there.