Stuff Wine Lover's Stocking With Glassware

Wine is a great holiday gift but for the wine lover there is another option that is sure to make them smile.

How about a great crystal wine glass to enjoy their high end wines?
Picking up a gift bottle isn’t tough if you know what your wine lover’s vino preferences. Of course, gift certificates are great way to hook up your friend or family member with a great bottle of their own choosing.

But it doesn’t necessarily have to be wine to put a smile on those purple lips!
Wine glasses, particularly nice ones, are a great idea for any wine lover! There are plenty of choices from discount to department stores, to crystal from stemware manufacturers.

But for a real wine lover there is nothing more intriguing than fine stemware made by the Riedel family from Austria. Riedel is the dominant name in wine glasses worldwide. The company is widely credited with demonstrating how wine is best enjoyed in a glass shaped for a particular wine.

As goofy as that may sound, particularly if you have not heard it before, it’s been proven true repeatedly by skeptics in blind tastings.

There are many fine glass and crystal manufacturers but Riedel is the standard for wine glasses. The company dates back 250 years. The Riedel family has continued the glass-making tradition through 11 generations.

Riedel products are easy to find online and in most fine wine stores. The Austrian company has glasses around $10 apiece up through their finest crystal at more than $100 a glass. They have a glass for almost every common wine.

If your wine lover is new, buy the affordable “O” series that doesn’t have a stem. It will introduce them to the concept of matching the glass shape to types of wine. If they are a bit more sophisticated in their drinking and don’t own fine wine glasses, I’d recommend the Vinum line which runs about $20-$30 a glass. I’d suggest the Bordeaux-Cabernet Merlot glass or the Pinot Noir glass. You get two for $59.00 online.

These are special occasion glasses for the person really into wine. They must be handled and cleaned with great care. Unfortunately, I have broken a couple. But as silly as it may sound, there is something special about drinking nice wine from fine crystal. It just tastes better!

There is no way to convince anyone on the concept of the value of a particular shaped glass for a particular wine until they try it. But any wine lover will grin when they remove the wrapping and see “Riedel” on the box inside.

Riedel also makes the most beautiful decanters in the world at prices out of this world. The prices range $49-$495.

My second gift recommendation is a decanter but you don’t have to buy Riedel at all. A decanter oxidizes the wine and allows some of the bitter tannins to soften before drinking. Decant young wines an hour or two before you plan on enjoying it and you’ll be surprised how much the wine changes.

You can find decanters in any home store, wine shop, or specialty store. I have two which I paid $10 and $20 for a few years ago. Both of mine do the same job as Riedel’s $495 decanter, just not as stylish!

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, is a wine enthusiast. He updates his wine blog throughout the week at: www.redforme.blogspot.com Or, write him at: hewitthoward@gmail.com