Sales Rank: 555


Features:

Height, Capacity: 7 3/4"H, 12 3/8 oz.

Designed specially for wines made from Chardonnay and other select white grapes

Machine-made of 24% lead crystal

Affordable second-tier from a prestigious name in wine-friendly stemware

Made in Austria by reowned wine-glass maker

Average Rating:
Rating: - A must-have for white wine lovers
This was one of the first Riedel glasses I bought. I've done many, many tests on how wine tastes differently in various glass options and in different situations. Riedel is one of the tests that is easy for even beginning drinkers to see the difference in. The flavor is *amazingly* different when you compare the exact same wine in a Riedel glass vs normal wine glasses.

Even if you buy inexpensive wines, you will get much more enjoyment out of them with this glassware compared to other options. If you are buying mid-range wines, the difference will blow you away. Think of the Riedel glass as allowing you to see what the wine in your bottle *really* was meant to taste like.

This is a great first glass for white wine drinkers to buy, because it is fantastic for Chardonnays of all price ranges. In addition, you can use the Chardonnay glass for a number of other white wine types, and find it greatly enhances the flavor for them all. If you're a white wine fan, definitely give these a try!

---

Rating: - Perfect choice for all around drinking
If you only want one shape of glass, the Chablis/Chardonnay glass is the perfect choice. It's extremely well balanced, and the shape is well suited to swirling a full serving and evaluating the "nose". The lip is thin and the opening is relatively wide at the top, requiring less tipping back to drink than the narrower mouthed glasses, such as the zinfandel/chianti/riesling glass. These glasses are also less huge and seem less out of place with your average sized cutlery and plates than the syrah, cabernet or pinot noir glasses. The more rounded, narrower-mouthed zin/chianti/riesling glass (Riedel 416/15) is another good all around choice. I would not recommended Riedel's so-called "gourmet glass", the stems of which are far too short.

I dislike the largish etched logo, which Riedel puts on the feet of their glasses. I'd rather just enjoy my wine.

Like all other high lead content crystal, be careful when washing these. Any kind of abrasive sponge or grit will scratch them.

---

Rating: - Does Taste and Smell Different
It is clear to me that these glasses do make a real difference. They make a difference in smell, taste and touch. Seeing that much of wine tasting IS the smell (not just when smelling, but also when drinking), it is no surprise that a different smell leads to a different "taste".

As for taste, when drinking, this type of glass does flow the wine more directly on the tongue, which also leads to a different initial taste (which is one reason to move the wine around). However, the initial taste is more pronounced on the drinking experience.

The fine lip is nice -- not too thin so that you worry about chipping it and swallowing glass pieces, like some of our fine crystal, and not so wide that you think you are biting on a block of wood. The texture is nice, too.

However, I find it harder to swish the wine in these glasses. They seem a bit top-heavy when swishing (but are finely balanced for drinking). It has an advantage of rising on the glass walls and leaving tears for analysis, but I would rather have a more balanced swish so that I can smell it better.

We use a mix of glass types and, depending on the approach (e.g., simple enjoyment or more analytical), will choose the glass accordingly. Still, there is no argument that these glasses make a real difference.