Proper Wineglass at Sparkling Stemware
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Q: I drink predominately California cabernet and pinot noir with a mixed bag of some of the Bordeaux estates I'm familiar with. A friend who collects Italian wine has gotten me started on a lot of the big boys lately Barolo, Amarone, and some Taurasi from the south. When I order them at a restaurant, there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the glass selection when the sommelier comes around what gives?
A: First and foremost, kudos to your friend for expanding your tastes and drawing some parallels with wines you're not familiar with. As for the glasses in the restaurant, a lot depends on their glassware selection and the choice of the wine steward, as with decanting, temperature, etc, glassware abides by a few set rules but is largely up to the professional opinion of the server or sommelier.
What complicates things is that these details are often set in a Francophile frame of reference. Many of us refer to the two most typical wine glasses the tapered bowl and the goblet as Bordeaux and Burgundy glasses, respectively. The glasses were formed to match the two most Snoble French wine styles and were adapted for varietal use when California predominately started cultivating cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir.
When you opt for a wine such as Barolo or Barbaresco, it can be counterintuitive to try and pick a glass for the nebbiolo grape. Many sommeliers serve these wines in pinot noir (Burgundy) glasses, which is a good choice for the aromatic complexity you'll encounter, despite the perception of nebbiolo as making Sbig wines. I've found the best match is a glass with a fluted rim that handles the relatively high acid, though the classic open goblet style can be a tough match for the classically heavy tannins and should be reserved for older vintages with more tertiary aromas. Unique Italian wines like Amarone should be viewed as port-like in their flavors but with none of the sweetness, therefore narrow, cut-rimmed glasses suitable for cabernet sauvignon work best, particularly those with large bowls meant for moderating the aromatic effect of high alcohol levels.
Just because your home or preferred restaurant doesn't have the daunting collection of varietal and stylistic labels (I recently saw Brunello di Montalcino glasses; a kind of lead-crystal microclimate, I suppose?) doesn't mean you can't enjoy a bevy of wine styles both classic and modern. Just as in food and wine pairing, a little quick analysis and knowing the basics of stemware function will make picking the ideal glass a snap.
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