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mini-barf, but what a tasty mini-barf indeed...

Does the Nero d'Avola go well with gourmet pizza?

Not necessarily Freestyla... there are other factors to account for:

The first is that glass, crystal in particular allows for optimum clarity when observing the color of wine. Taste, aroma and color are the three most important aspects when appreciating wine; using plastic cups would reduce our ability to get the most out of our senses. Also, unlike plastic, the brims of glass wine goblets can be manipulated to thinner than 1mm. This allows the wine to flow directly onto your tongue (and your taste buds) instead of immediately spreading out, avoiding your tongue and filling the pockets of your cheeks.

Additionally, the weight of glass helps stemware remain sturdy. If you used plastic stemware, the wine would weigh more than the cup and tumble over more frequently, costing you more money to replace those rugs. Standard glass and plastic costs about the same to manufacture but people are willing to pay more for glass than plastic. The luxury of hand-blown crystal comes with uniqueness, elegance and a sense of pride...just like that Corvette we all want.

As I'm sure you may know, recent news warns drinking water out of plastic bottles because the combination of sunlight, heat and other factors can cause carcinogens to leach out of the plastic and slowly poison you over time. They first discovered this by noticing a slight plastic taste to water. With a highly acidic ingredient like wine, the carcinogenic effect of holding wine in plastic can be even more detrimental to our health. A few companies make wine glasses that contain traces of lead which adds structure and allows the consumer to resort to dishwasher cleaning. Riedel does not do this. My suggestion is to avoid any wine glasses that are dishwasher safe. Would you want that corvette sent into a carwash or would you feel much better having someone handwash it for you?

Deb, don't listen to the negative criticism; in fact, don't even respond to those critics. Some people make it their life effort to downplay the opinions of others.

Now down to business... The vessel that you drink wine out of greatly affects the overall impact of the wine itself. Particularly, the wine can be easily stirred to awaken the vibrant aromas which unleash the flavors held within. The human nose can sense more than 2,000 smells while the mouth can only sense sour, sweet, salty and bitter. The power of smell greatly affects the attractiveness of the thing you drink or eat. Think about it.

I would suggest spending what you can afford on wine glasses. Whether its $10 or $100, if you make an attempt to purchase an actual wine glass set, you will be experiencing more quality wine than someone who drinks it out of a plastic cup.

Wine, to me, just tastes better out of fine stemware. When my wife and I travel. I purchased some good plastic stemware that we can pack in our bar and enjoy wine in the motel or hotel. It's perfect for travel, almost break-proof.
I guess it depends what's important to you but I have cabinets full of fine crystal and fine stemware and we use them. A good manhattan tastes so good out of a piece of fine crystal. Dave

I have noticed that certain generic plastic cups (like the ubiquitous red party cups) tend to dull certain flavors in wine. I've even seen articles claiming that plastic wrap can pull unwanted flavors out of mildly tainted wine.

I like both Pie n'Burger and Apple Pan. Reviewer doesn't mention the pies at Pie n'Burger and it's just as well as they don't really compete with Apple Pan, even though the latter has only two varieties (apple and pecan).

As for the burgers themselves, it's a tough choice but I would give Apple Pan the edge again for a better built burger and more flavor. I don't understand the member who says they're 'sweet', an adjective that would never cross my mind when describing AP's burgers. I know that people who drink a lot of alcohol often find that most food tastes 'sweet' to them. I don't mean that as any kind of insult to the member, not saying he's an alkie or anything! Just that palates differ immensely according to culinary habits. I doubt *most* burger tasters would find AP burgers 'sweet.'

The comparison between Pn'B and In'O is apt, they remind me of one another a lot. I spend a lot more time in Pasadena than W LA but I consider Apple Pan more of a 'special' taste experience. Anyway they're both great!

Here's the link to that article, StBernard -

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/shattered_myths

Very good article, too. I mean, seriously - they're using the tongue map as a guide to where to impact the wine's flavor? There's no such thing. I'm all for good wine glasses, and the shape will definitely impact the aromas and how you perceive the wine. I notice the way the tastings were set up really led people through it - she would set the expectations and people would taste what they were told they would.

It's like scented geraniums. Sure, that's a "pineapple" scented geranium... but if you didn't know that beforehand, you wouldn't place that scent as being pineapple.

@vinnyger: ROFL what a thread-closer...and for whatever reason I heard Pinky (Pinky & the Brain) say that.

I was at a Riedel crystal seminar recently, and from the evidence I tasted I now do believe the finely designed and specialized glasses make a difference. Wine is an aesthetic experience. It's a luxury item. So it makes sense that the aesthetic experience is heightened by luxury glassware.

Do I have expensive wine glasses? Nope. Can't afford them! But I have the best I can reasonably afford, and I enjoy drinking from them more than the emergency banquet glasses in the back of the cupboard.

Of course wine tastes better in a wine glass according to Georg Riedel -- he is the founder of a wine glass company.

Certain vessels do impart a certain flavor in transit/storage. This is why I rarely bought water in plastic bottles, only in glass, or drinks in cans. For immediate consumption from bottle to cup I doubt it really matters much, unless there's an odor to the cup. It's not a new concept that taste ties closely with your sense of smell.

As pompous as this sounds, $60-80 for a set of 4 glasses isn't THAT steep. I bought a set of 6 water glasses that are $25/each, and I'm not well off at all -- they just looked cool and I loved the weight. :)

If you've only spent $10 for a bottle of wine, who cares what it's served in because the wine was probably mass produced anyway.

I feel it is about respecting the artisan and his product. If you have a $500 bottle of wine, it would be a shame and rather disrespectful to the artisan (who really may or may not care) to drink it from a styrofoam cup. While one can do it, would one do it?

I do not drink wine, so you can disregard everything I said above. :)

I purchased 4 of the Riedel O stemless glasses a few years ago, and I have not been disappointed in them at all. I've done taste tests comparing them to other wine glasses, and some stemless crystal as well, and they really do make a difference. I've probably broken 2 a year on average, mostly while hand washing the glasses. I also bought the standard size riedel cabernet decanter which is fantastic. It's very sturdy, and the shape works well with several red varietals. I don't drink that much pinot, but even if I did I couldn't justify buying one of their pinot decanters. Those are definitely luxury items, and they all look like a huge pain to clean and store safely.

I think you certainly have a point, in terms of drinking wine in general, but I think framing it the way you did is a little ridiculous. Backyard cookouts? I don't know about you, but I've never been to a barbecue with wine that was more than $10, hell sometimes it comes out of a box, and then we honestly just don't care what we drink it out of. Suggesting that I should enjoy my hot dog and sauerkraut with a nice stemware glass of merlot is quite pretentious. If there will be wine at all, it will certainly be out of plasticware, and maybe even out of the bottle.

Amy
Baking and Mistaking