Onwinetime Blog Riedel Vitis - Virtual Perfection

I have to admit, when it comes to wine glasses, I am partial to the Riedel brand. Being a lover of wine, and being in a business that predominately focuses on high-end wine glasses is kind of like being a parent. Say you have four kids. You love them all out of duty and kinship, but let's be honest--most of the time, there's one that gets favored more. Maybe because you get along better, you have common interests, they have the same sense of humor as you, whatever the case. It's human nature. So, Riedel is my favored kid of wine glasses. To take it a step further, the Riedel Vitis line of glasses is my favored Riedel kid. I love them because they are varietal-specific, they are designed--as are all Riedel wine glasses--taking the characteristics of each type of wine into consideration before they are produced, and they are, quite simply, the most gorgeous glasses out there (in my humble opinion). I sincerely hope my kids don't need therapy after reading this article...Varietal Specific Wine GlassesOver 50 years ago, Claus Riedel pioneered the concept of creating wine glasses that delivered the most accurate representation of each type (varietal) of wine. Until then, a wine glass was a wine glass. They were all-purpose and generic. Riedel recognized that the size, shape, bowl, and height were all factors that needed to be considered on a by-grape basis when crafting a crystal wine glass. Take a lofty Cabernet Sauvignon for example. A Cab needs more surface area to breathe, open up the nose, evaporate alcohol and balance the interaction of the acids, tannins, fruits and minerals of the wine. The requirements of a young Riesling, for instance, are dramatically different. All of these factors are meticulously studied by Riedel when crafting a new line of their glassware, and when they launched the Vitis glasses in 2006, it was no different.Vitis Wine Glasses - The Twist is the PullVitis glasses are striking in appearance. They are not ornate, but rather clean and angular in design. What sets them apart is that they feature a pulled stem, which creates an indent in the bottom of the bowl. This indent reflects light, which makes the wine dazzle with an added dimension. It also creates fluidity about the glass--the glass and the stem seem to flow into each other. Not just a cosmetic feature of a wine glass, a pulled stem tends to be a little more durable than a stem that is attached to a bowl. That's one of the more vulnerable points of a non-pulled stem...where the stem meets the bowl.So, now you know this author's preferred "wine child." Seriously, whatever Riedel wine glass you go with you're making a fantastic choice. It's all a matter of your taste. The company simply doesn't make a single inferior glass--they are all designed to ensure you get the absolute best performance for your wine drinking experience.Cheers!Author Louis Cooper at LMC@OnWinetime.com