2 minute read
GLASSWARE
The Finest Stemware
Thinking about it logically, one can commit a lot of money, time and passion buying great wine, storing it perfectly, decanting it and, in the final hour of its long life, losing 50% of the aromatic beauty and taste sensation by using mediocre glasses – a disappointing end to such a promising and invested enterprise!
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STEMWARE…
To help one avoid this terrible error, Farthinghoe has teamed up with Zalto, whose tag word ‘Glasperfektion’, sums it up for us. It’s so easy to overlook the importance of good glasses but it makes such a huge difference. They accentuate all the wine’s characteristics, creating greater intrigue on the nose and pleasure in the mouth. Zalto glasses are incredibly thin, elegant and light and just beautiful to handle – the stems actually flex as you swirl! Despite their elegance, they are 100% dishwasher proof and being leadfree, remain absolutely clear and bright, despite almost daily use.
DECANTING….
Many of us associate decanting with older vintage Ports or aged Bordeaux – wines that throw off a lot of sediment as they age. Decanting separates the bright wine from the cloudy sediment, allowing it to look beautiful in the glass – one of the pleasures – but also separating the astringent characteristics of the tannins. Slowly and carefully decanting a wine ensures that the sediment stays in the bottle and you get a beautifully bright wine in the decanter, and subsequently in your glass. Just as one loses the angel’s share with whisky, one should always sacrifice that final half glass of dirty wine at the bottom of the bottle.
A more everyday reason to decant is to aerate the wine and I feel most wines benefit from being decanted, and it looks so much more stylish of course! Many young wines can be tight or closed on the nose or palate. As the wine is slowly poured from the bottle to the decanter it takes in oxygen, helping to open up and release those aromas and flavours. Highly tannic and full-bodied wines benefit most from this. If you don’t normally decant your wine, please do try it, you’ll be amazed at the difference.
As obliged as one may feel to use the wedding-gifted crystal-cut glasses sitting in the side-board, we would thoroughly recommend a small investment in some beautiful Zalto glasses. Designed and handcrafted to make your wines look, smell and taste at their very best, just begs the question….why wouldn’t you?
SWEET WINE/CHAMPAGNE
£215 PER 6 GLASSES
For mature, vintage, complex, Domaine/Grower sparkling wines and dessert wines, tawny ports, and more.
Total volume Height
320ml 230mm
Bowl
85mm
UNIVERSAL
£220 PER 6 GLASSES
The best all-rounder for wine, especially complex white and when only one shape is required.
Total volume Height Bowl Aperture 530ml 235mm 91mm 65mm
BORDEAUX
£230 PER 6 GLASSES
Suitable for all red wine, often supported by tannin and extract as well as fullbodied white wine with gentle new oak influence.
Total volume Height Bowl
765ml 230mm 109mm
BURGUNDY
£230 PER 6 GLASSES
For perfumed, elegant, generous red and white wines with depth and persistence.
Total volume Height Bowl
960ml 230mm 125mm
DECANTER MYSTIQUE
£99 PER SINGLE DECANTER
For perfect aeration of wine, a modern take on a ships decanter. Easy to drain.
Total volume Height
1900ml 185mm
Width