HOW A COMPARATIVE TASTING WILL CHANGE

Your Wine Life

If you have been to one of our Events at The Chocolate Tier, particularly the Afternoon with The Chocolate Tier, you’ve probably heard us talking about how the glass your drink out of makes a difference: but have you ever wondered what the big fuss is?

THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND GRAPE VARIETAL-SPECIFIC GLASSES
Imagine you are a carpenter building a house, and someone tells you that you can pick only one tool to complete the job. Which one do you choose? You know you can’t use a hammer to tighten a screw or a screwdriver to cut a piece of wood; this is the same as the philosophy of grape varietal-specific glasses.

Different wine varieties have different characters and flavour profiles. The size and shape of your vessel – whether a RIEDEL glass or plastic cup – will alter how you perceive the wine.

A COMPARISON WILL SHOW YOU HOW IT WORKS
RIEDEL hosts elaborate comparative tastings with a team of wine professionals; They assess the exact wine in up to 20 different glass shapes to find the correct shape for that one variety. It’s easy to recreate a simplified version of this experience at home: you only need two glasses with different shapes!

Our step-by-step guide

Find two clean glasses that are drastically different in shape. Place them side by side, and pour at least 100ml of wine into one glass, whichever glass you use call it glass #1.

First, smell the wine by putting your nose right into the glass and taking a deep breath. The aroma intensity sits inside the bowl, so there’s no point only hovering nearby. Note what you can smell and how intense or dull the aromas are.

Now, have a taste. Think about how the wine tastes and if you enjoy it. What’s the first thing you taste and the final? Is it good or bad, and how long does it last? How does the wine feel on your palate: does it leave it dry?

Transfer all of your remaining wine to your comparison, glass #2, then follow these steps again. While smelling and tasting, consider how the wine has changed from your first experience. Is it better or worse? Did you prefer it from either glass?

Ultimately, you should ask yourself: if someone else had poured the wine without you seeing the bottle, would you believe it was the same wine? You can repeat this test using a third differently shaped glass or a plastic cup! You’ll be amazed by how much the wine changes each time.

This simple test is designed to show you one thing: what you drink your wine out of will impact your enjoyment.

HOST YOUR OWN COMPARATIVE WINE PARTY

THIS FUN LITTLE EXERCISE CAN BECOME A WINE GAME AT YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY:
You’ll need to have enough glasses, so each guest gets the same set of differently shaped glasses. Pour the wine for your guests but don’t tell them it’s the same. See if they can guess the variety, or if they think the wine is different from one glass to the next!

For an added experience, pair your wines with various chocolate, including Milk, dark and white.  Look for the marriage between the chocolate and the wine and see how the characteristics of wine and chocolate change.  Not only will this change your wine life, it will also change your view on making a simple dinner party so much fun.

If this feels like a great day out, look for our Afternoon with the chocolate tier events.  Where we love to chat about wine, chocolate and believe it or not glassware.

HOST AN EXPERIENCE

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Take the journey with us and indulge your senses with our various experiences, ranging from food and wine pairings, whiskey and chocolate tastings and you can even learn how to make your very own truffles.

SAVOUR THE MEMORIES WITH THESE

Experience Add-ons

Riedel Glassware

Our gift boxes do not contain any glasses.
If you would like to add any glasses o your experience as gifts,
please have a look at our catalogue, make your choice and we
will add them to the box.

Truffle Gift Boxes

Create a VIP experience by adding a delicious chocolate gift
box.  Whether you’re looking for something small and delicate
or if you have something special in mind, please get in touch
with us.  Our team can make some lovely suggestions.

Grazing Boxes

No need to be concerned about feeding everyone,
you can order each guest one of our amazing grazing boxes
filled with cheeses, cold meats, a selection of fruits and some
delicious treats for those with a sweet tooth.

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