A few years ago, I was invited to the home of a foodie couple for dinner. Over a glass of champagne and a few nibbles, the host took me to one side. 'Tim, I really must apologise, but the dessert wine tonight is the same wine I poured last time you came round.' How could he remember what he'd opened six years previously, I asked? 'It's all written down in a book, Tim.'
You won't be surprised that the couple set great store by their wine glasses, too. The right one for this, the right one for that. At the time I thought it was all rather fussy, not to mention disconcerting. Would I pour my water into my white wine glass, red wine into my port glass or the whole lot over the tablecloth? I was ill at ease all night, fearful of committing some terrible stemware solecism.
We do things differently in the wilds of south London. Or rather we used to. Guests at my house were traditionally given one of Habitat's finest and told to get on with it. But now I've changed my mind. The cupboard in my new kitchen contains five different types of glass: champagne, white wine, two reds and an all-purpose tasting glass. I've also got single examples of dozens of other glasses, covering a gamut of shapes and sizes.
What changed my mind? The answer is a series of tastings given by Georg Riedel, the Austrian glassware magnate, who travels the world preaching a simple message: 'Life is too short to drink good wine out of bad glasses.' I was initially sceptical, but Riedel has convinced me that, by directing the flow of the liquid towards a specific area of the palate, depending on the wine style, the con figuration of a glass can have a marked impact on the way it tastes.
In a similar way, the size and shape of the bowl will enhance or detract from its bouquet. If you don't believe me, try drinking the same aromatic white from a Paris goblet (little better than tasting it from a plastic mug) and a widely available ISO glass with a tapered bowl. Notice the way the wine smells more intense in the second glass? As Riedel says, 'it's physics, not chemistry'. Incidentally, a decent glass can only enhance what's there, be it good, bad or mediocre; it won't turn Lindemans' Bin 65 Chardonnay into Corton Charlemagne.
Riedel's sales pitch was given independent corroboration last year when Kari Russell, a food science student at the University of Tennessee, published some research into wine glasses. Her test was comparatively simple. She poured samples of Merlot into three different shaped glasses (champagne flute, a Y-shaped martini glass and a broad, but tapered Bordeaux glass). As she did so, she noticed that the concentration of one particular phenol, gallic acid, increased in all three. Twenty minutes later it had dropped significantly in the Bordeaux glass, producing a rounder wine.
How many different glasses do you need? You're certainly not short of choice. Herr Riedel's company (020 8545 0830 for UK stockists) produces more than 100 different glasses, ranging in price from £5 to over £40. There's a Riesling glass, a Bordeaux glass, a Burgundy glass, a Pinotage glass. I'd also recommend the glasses from Schott Zwiesel (01629 56190) and, if you want something really posh, William Yeoward Crystal (0207 351 5454). You may also feel the need to buy one of those leather-bound books in which you record the details of the wines you served at dinner. Or, like me, you may prefer to stick six bottles in the middle of the table and invite your guests to serve themselves.
Top six wines for the right glasses
2001 DFJ Touriga Nacional/Touriga Franca, Estremadura (£5.99, Safeway) José Neiva is better than anyone in Portugal at delivering ripe, New World style flavours from traditional grapes, such as the Touriga twins. This minty, deeply coloured red is excellent value.
2000 Brolio Chianti Classico (£10.99, Sainsbury's) A Chianti that's hit a good run of form recently, this is a wine that really opens up in a decent glass. It's still youthful at the moment, with concentrated tannins and fruit flavours, but it has hidden, savoury depths.
2000 Leo Buring Special Release Eden Valley Riesling (£9.99, Tesco) How long before Australian Riesling takes over from Chardonnay as that country's best-known white wine style? This pure, elegant, cool climate style ought to make a few more converts.
1999 Chteau Carignan, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux (£13.28, Corney & Barrow, 020 7539 3200) Nothing to do with the lowly Carignan grape, this is a well-priced Right Bank claret that delivers far more than you expect in the glass. Plump and deeply coloured, with notes of cedarwood, blackcurrant and fresh coffee and an elegant finish.
2000 Volnay Premier Cru, Nicolas Potel (£17.99, selected branches of Marks & Spencer) You may have to hunt around for this, but it's well worth the effort. This silky, organically farmed Pinot is typical of the approachable house style.
My best buy
2001 Jumilla, Monasterio de Santa Anna, Casa de la Ermita (£4.99, Waitrose) Based on the Mataro grape (aka Mourvèdre), this Spanish stunner knocks most sub-£5 Aussie wines into a slouch hat. I can only urge you to besiege your local Waitrose in search of a bottle of this structured, sun-saturated red.
