In the mood for wine – The right wine glass for every emotional state

In the mood for wine – The right glass for every emotional state

Most of us have a weird variety of glasses in our house. Take a friend of mine – let’s call her X, who owns precisely four glasses – a multi-purpose one used for every occasion – red, white, day drinking, you name it – two lovely champagne flutes that were given to her as a wedding present (you’re welcome), and a miscellaneous object that she claims is for red wine, but which I know for a fact is a brandy balloon. 

While she seems happy with this set up, I can’t help but feel that her enjoyment would be vastly improved by a glass that doesn’t just hold her wine, but elevates it with every sip – and the right glassware has precisely this power. It can track down an aroma of smoke or cherry that you never dreamed existed and make any wine taste better. However, while there’s been loads written about matching specific wine varietals to specific wine varietal glasses, what about our emotional state? It’s no secret that wine can draw out emotions, so what about pairing to that? The answer is, sure, why not.

For the record, all of my suggestions are from Riedel, the world leader and a family business for ten generations, which seemed easier than sending you all to random pages on Amazon. You won’t necessarily need to buy them all, just the ones that best suit your lifestyle. If you’d like to purchase any, head to Depachika who have a wide range – at the time of writing, MMI Dubai stores were also stocking them

First, decanters.

I love decanters. Perhaps a little too much judging from the number I own – queue action shot. My excuse is that I host home tastings and public events most nights of the week and who wants to use the same one twice? The effect of a decanter, however, can be astonishing. Imagine being cold and having a warm blanket draped over every part of your body simultaneously – that is what a decanter does to wine. They are also beautiful on a shelf, so just pour, wait for any sediment to drop to the bottom and for those flavours and aromas to get more pronounced. 

Emotional state – Ecstasy

Put your dirty mind away for a moment, I’m talking profound happiness and the need to celebrate. That means it has to be champagne and the iconic flute. Invented in the early 1700’s, the champagne flute reduces the surface area that’s exposed to the air ensuring those wonderful vanilla, dried fruit and warm bread aromas don’t escape. You could also choose a coupe, which legend has it was modelled on Marie Antoinette’s left breast, which seems awfully specific, but in this instance nothing beats the feel, look and effect of a delicate flute. 

AED 175 per pair

Emotional state – Contentment

Got that warm, glowing feeling after working up a sweat? Maybe in the sunshine? Maybe by just sitting in the sunshine? That means it has to be the Veritas Riesling glass (or similar). Best suited to cool, crisp white wines like a cold sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, zinfandel and of course riesling, it also keeps smooth, young reds alive in all their spiced, smoky glory. It’s so good we use it in our WSET wine training courses.

AED 175 per pair

Emotional state – Contemplative

If you’re in the mood for fire side reflections on your life, then it has to be something along the lines of the Riedel 001 – a serious wine glass that’s designed to harness the flavours, aromas and attitude of a big red. This is no easy feat; wines like Cabernet, Shiraz or Amarone can smack your tastebuds like the hammer of Thor and to cope you need a no prisoners glass to match. You’ll often find these in the best restaurants in Dubai, and on display they scream, ‘ask me about wine’.

AED 110 each

Emotional state – Guilty

Not necessarily, ‘I’ve done something really bad’ guilt, but more along the lines of a guilty pleasure kind of guilt. We’re talking ‘Just one more glass’, or ‘No one will notice if I attack that brownie like a beaver building a dam’ kind of guilt. In this case it has to be a Montrachet/Chardonnay glass, designed for the ultimate, love it or hate it wine. And before you say that you don’t like Chardonnay, consider for a moment that you might not have found the right one yet. This gorgeous glass has a bigger bowl to draw out all those lovely peach, pineapple, flint and toast flavours and aromas and is also really nice to hold.

AED 230 per pair

For even more info on Riedel wine glasses, check out one of our older posts here.

What’s your favourite?

The Wines we tasted