Glasses are definitely a key part of wine tasting. Finding the right glass for each individual wine could well be the hobby of many wine geeks, still for me it is also crucial to provide the best possible experience to Dom Pérignon lovers. I have always had a friendly relationship with Georg Riedel, born of our mutual esteem. The Riedel family business, established in 1756 in Bohemia, is known worldwide for its high-quality crystal glasses: their Burgundy Grand Cru crystal glass, handmade and mouth-blown, is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Last August I had the visit of Maximilian Riedel (Georg’s son, representing the 11th generation of the family in the glass business) who came to me with a large selection of stemware: our aim that day was to find the perfect glass for Dom Pérignon Rosé, a glass that would do justice to the wine by presenting it in the best conditions for appreciation. It would have been possible to create a specific glass for this Champagne, but I preferred to choose from the existing collection. At the time I also had the upcoming 1990 Dom Pérignon Rosé Œnothèque in mind. I settled on the Pinot Noir Vinum XL, which is not so surprising given the assertive Pinot Noir character of Dom Pérignon Rosé. This fantastic glass really shows the wine in an uncompromising way, especially on the palate.
The first aspect that grabbed our attention was the intensity of the nose and how the wine could breathe in the glass. Second, I felt it put the fruit right at the center of the tasting experience without compromising the complexity of the aromas. Third, it rendered the right expression on the palate, especially the amplitude and texture, both of them fundamental qualities of Dom Pérignon. And incidentally, I could only appreciate the lyre shape of this glass that resonates with the Oriental theme of the Silk Road dinners!
Thank you for this information. What Riedel glass would you prefer with white dom perignon? I am personally leaning toward sommelier champagne grand cru or sommelier hermitage.
Generally speaking I am of the opinion that the shape and volume of a glass will directly influence the tasting experience. For example, and to go to the extremes, a narrow glass will make the wine feel restrained and tight, whereas a flat, open glass will make the wine taste… flat. This is why traditional glasses like flutes and coupes aren’t usually recommended, by the way.
To come back to Dom Pérignon, I like to have a glass ample enough for the wine to have the space to express itself (and older wines require even larger glasses), but not too much or the substance of the wine might be stretched too thin. I would say any good wine glass should work—I personally use the Riedel Riesling/Chianti Classico glass regularly when tasting and drinking Dom Pérignon.
Could you also use this glass ,the pinot noir Vinum XL, for the rosé 2000? Or is an other Riedel glass better. The Oenotheque ‘95 is served in an Authensis glass from Spiegelau. On your recommendation. Taste is absolutely great. A true miracle.
So my question is what is the best glass to taste an Dom Pérignon? And what is nice to serve with the Rosé Oenotheque that accompanies the Dom Perignon 1990 Rosé best
Regards
As I expected the topic of wine glasses is generating a lot of interest–therefore rather than reply to each question individually I decided it would be more convenient to tackle all of them at the same time in a future blog entry, to be published soon!