Wine Wednesday... The Proof is in the Wine Glass? An Experiment...

When I was a young girl back home in England two or three times a year my mum would get out her best bone china with the most beautiful rose flower painted tea cups I have ever seen.  This china tea set would be brought out for very special occasions like Easter and birthdays.  My mum would say tea tasted so much better out of bone china and I have to say I agree and still say it to this day.  Its tastes even better with little cakes I might add.

So, when a guy I met at the Sun WineFest at Mohegan Sun, made a similar claim about a wine glass, I was very intrigued.  Could a crystal glass do for wine what bone china does for tea?   Robert Hall, the wine glass chap of Botega del Vino Crystal offered to send me a wine glass in the mail to try it out for myself.  He kept to his word and the wine glass arrived within the week.

To be honest, I was skeptical – this was quite a claim.  First of all the glass is enormous and is about the size of one of those joke wine glasses that holds a full bottle.  The glass is thin and fine and you think fragile, but apparently it isn’t.  It has a sharp crystal sound when you clink it and it feels expensive.  Narrower at the bottom and instead of the rim curving inward or staying straight it curves out.  A bit of a different looking red wine glass. Robert told me that every glass is mouth blown and individually shaped to perfection.  No machines used at all.

Botega del Vino Crystal claim is "if the wine matters, so does the wine glass." They say they have proof after many tests and tastings that wine fans agree this glass makes the difference.

So, the test was on.  First try was with my friend, Kathleen.  We tried a standard wine, the Robert Mondavi Zinfandel and to our surprise it really was different.  We were not sure why or how.  It tasted milder, softer, less sharp in the Botega.

To really prove my point and because I didn't quite believe it, I decided to try it again with a slightly more higher end wine.  I poured some of the Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, the wine I reviewed last Saturday (a super good red) and then the same amount (I think) into the gigantic new glass.  The swirl is fun to do in the Botega glass, lots of room.  The taste, well, I cant believe I am going to say this (again), it did taste a little better and I am trying to work out why and the only thing I can come up with is the largeness/wideness or the thinness of the glass.  I was very dedicated to getting to the answer so I continued to drink taste out of two glasses for some time and started to take notes.  I am very committed to my blog!  For the Bonterra Cab it tasted lighter - not as heady, perhaps more open and not as sweet, but still full bodied and complicated.  It was more amusing to drink, probably because it was in the gigantic glass but overall, it was just better and a little different in a good way.  

My usual wine glasses still work great but I think every now and again I am going to give myself more of a treat and enjoy a large pour in my Botega del Vino Crystal Red Wine Glass, especially when I want to enjoy an expensive wine.

These glasses, I have to say, are stunning looking, even if very large.  Definitely good for a date night and at $50 a treat night as well.  They also make for lovely gifts.  Check out their website.

Also, check out this interesting history of the wine glass.