While the title suggests I finally made that long neglected visit to the Optometrist,  this is a wine blog.  Yep, I got some new store-bought wine drinking vessels.

It's not that we are sans wine glasses.  Like many folks, we have the usual eclectic collection of survivors from purchases past and souvenirs from various wineries.  Unfortunately, with my diminished peripheral vision while wearing reading glasses (pretty much permanent now) and an uncanny lack of coordination, I have been thinning the herd.  After presenting friends with a set red wine glasses for Christmas, Angie decided we should extend that courtesy to home.

So, what do you look for in a wine glass?  Depending on your level or degree of wine appreciation, it could be a plastic cup bearing the name of a favorite sports team or fast food restaurant. The Oxford Companion to Wine suggests you look for the thinest possible to minimize the separation of wine from palate.  Thin to me means easily destroyed.  See preceding paragraph.  I can't say for sure if wine tastes better in a very expensive glass or not.  I would rather spend my wine allowance on the wine itself.  But, you won't find me drinking out of an old jelly jar either.

What do I look for?  First, the glass has to have a stem so I can hold it without touching the bowl.  I also have a wine temperature fetish and heat from the hand transfers to the glass and wine within. Those chic stemless glasses aren't far removed from the jelly jar IMHO.

Next, and most important, I'm a compulsive swirler.  I love the aroma and bouquet of wine and swirl almost before every drink.  For me then, the glass has to offer some balance.  My theory says the weight of the stem  and base is balanced by the weight of the bowl with wine, making the swirling action fairly effortless.  In reality, it just has to feel right.  A really thick glass bowl can feel clumsy while a really thin glass bowl begs destruction.  Balanced or not, an overly enthusiastic effort still results in stained tablecloths.   

What did I purchase?  Well, without advertising for either store or product, I found myself in ye ole Target store on a Friday afternoon.  I picked up a box of  Riedel Vivant Burgundy and one of the Bordeaux.  Each held two glasses.  I figured Angie and I would try out a couple before investing in a set of eight.

The main difference between the Burgundy and Bordeaux glasses is the shape of the rim.  Bordeaux glasses have the narrower rim; the rim of the Burgundy glass is flared out .  The difference has to do with the grape variety and how the taste buds on our tongues sense flavors.  A red Burgundy wine is Pinot Noir and acidity is a primary characteristic (like white wines).  The outside edges of the tongue are more sensitive to acidity, and the flared rim of the glass that forces wine in that direction.  Bordeaux wines are primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Here the glass forces wine down the center of the tongue to get to the more dense taste bud area at the back of the tongue.  I apologize to any sense-of-taste experts for the over simplification, but it works for me.

Our first experiment was successful. The California Cabernet worked with the Bordeaux glasses, and no swirling incidents were noted.  It may seem a little pretentious to have two glasses for red wines, but I'm a wine geek; I can't help it.  Now if I can just keep from ending the life of our new glasses prematurely, we'll have time to try out the Burgundy ones.