Wine Stemware

What type of stemware do you use, and does it matter?

We here at the Witherspoon house have a mixture of Spiegelau and Riedel glasses for red and Spiegelau only for the whites. The red are the Bordeaux model and except for the actual stem of the glass you couldn’t tell the difference between the two visually. (Except for the etched logo on the bottom) I know internally, the companies use different crystal weights and mixture percentages that they both define as being the best.

Recently we have become more and more amazed with nice restaurants that use small goblet shaped wine glasses, especially for red wines. A friend asked me the other day if I would consider myself a wine snob and I said no just an enthusiast, but when it comes to stemware I would say yes. The stemware can really change the wine experience for me both at a restaurant and at a tasting room. I don’t care about brand names, but when a tasting room/restaurant has nice, “properly sized” stemware I think it makes a difference in my overall experience not to say necessarily on the taste of the wine.

Scientific studies have been done examining this very concept and found that when you take away the visual and tactile stimuli, negligible difference is found between the typical goblet style and the “proper” Bordeaux style Riedel glass. When you leave in the aforementioned stimuli there are significant differences between the glass types.

Okay, Wine Bloggers, let me know what YOU think!!

Last Nights Wine

2005 Yalumba "Y" Series Viognier

Origin: South Austrailia, Barossa Valley

Nose: Anise (licorice), peach, apricot

Taste: Apricot, slight citrus, mineral/earth

Mouthfeel: Rich, oily but not in a bad way--slick feeling on the tounge

Finish: Medium-Long

This is an excellent Viognier, and the second time we have tried it. Not too over the top on any of the flavors, but as you can see, displays the typical Viognier characteristics. It delivers these in a beautiful layered fashion that is exciting and delightful on each and every sip. (A) $11.95

Oberon 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon (100%)

Origin: Napa Valley

Color: Deep Red

Nose: Very Fruity empasized by Raspberry and Blackberry; There was also a richness to the aroma that I couldn't quite identify(maybe coffee) but it smelled awesome.

Taste: Wonderfully rich raspberry with cinnamon and earthiness rounding out the finish

Mouthfeel: Silky smooth with just enough structure to hold it together at the end

Finish: Medium in length

Megan and I picked this up about a month ago at a Friday night tasting at the Wine Cellar. It is a great Cab, not too tannic(could use a bit more), not too earthy, just right. A little fruitier than most cabs but a very good wine. We just tried their 2003 Merlot at last Friday's tasting and it was quite good as well. (A) $21.95

Gadgets that speed up the aging process

There are a few products on the market that claim they can smooth out tannins, evoke fruit character and generally “open up” a young wine in a matter of minutes. There are a lot of skeptics out there that say the gizmos don’t do what they claim to. But aren’t these devices just high tech decanters.

From Wikipedia:
“A good decanting process involves the wine trickling down the walls of the decanter, imparting fuller flavor while taking the unwelcome edge off the wine.”

I guess where a decanter and one of these gizmos differ it that the gizmo works in a matter of minutes, a decanter may take several hours or even a day to open up a bottle of wine. And I definitely don’t think you can age a bottle 5-10 years by putting it in a decanter which some of the gizmos claim they can do.

I love technical gadgets so don’t get me wrong, I think these “wine agers” are really cool, but I definitely find something more enjoyable about watching the wine gently flow down the inside of a decanter vs. slapping a magnet on the neck of the bottle.

This post was “sparked” by an article about one of the gizmos on winebusiness.com. Check it out HERE.

If any of you out there that read this blog have one of these gadgets let me know how well and if it works.


Last nights wine coming later today with Oberon 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

Friday Nights Wine

2003 Flying Fish Merlot (100%)

Region: Washington State

Color: Ruby Red

Aroma: Cherry, Jammy fruit, cocoa

Taste: Cherry, Chocolate, and Vanilla

Mouthfeel: very smooth, medium bodied

We enjoyed this bottle of wine with our friends Jeff and Elizabeth (my sister) at a great little bistro here in town called Cafe Catura. Although storms loomed on the horizon we were able to enjoy our bottle outside on their nice patio. Great wine for the value. (A-) $11.95(retail)

Thursday Nights Wine

2005 Ferrari Carano Fumé Blanc

Color: Light straw

Aroma: Citrus, Grapefruit, green grass

Flavor: Grapefruit, slight lemon, with a nice balance of minerality

Mouthfeel: Nice and crisp without being overly acidic

Ferrari Carano Fume is one of our favorites every year. Always a winner, displaying the typical Sauv/Fume Blanc characteristics. (A) $15.95

Last Nights Wine
2004 Blenheim Meritage

Nose: Berry, Earthiness

Taste: Initially Black Raspberry and Cassis were faint with flavors of chocolate, leather and bell pepper being predominant but after about 30 minutes the fruit flavors came to life and really made for a great wine.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, Medium Bodied

Finish: Medium Length

We have found Blenheim Wines to very good. Visiting Blenheim is always fun as it is by appointment only and both times we have been it was conducted by the winemaker Brad. His pours are generous and the so is the conversation. Thier winery is beautifully constructed out of almost 100% "found" wood, and is a gravity flow design creating as little impact as possible on the grapes/must during initial processing. This wine was again excellent and I can't wait to enjoy the other bottle that we have. (A) $25.00

Last Nights Wine

2003 King Family Meritage

70% Merlot 27% Cab Franc 3% Petit Verdot

Nose: Cinnamon, chocloate, dark fruit

Taste: Black Raspberry, Cherry, Tobacco

Mouthfeel: Silky Smooth and Medium bodied

Finish: Not Much, shorter than expected

Another fine Michael Shaps creation from King Family Vineyards (A-) $24.95

Last Nights Wine

Tonight we (and 7 of our friends) took our friend out for her birthday for Tapas at Europa in downtown Richmond. Dinner was excellent as usual and so was the service (try and make sure you waiter is Slate), he is awesome especially with large groups. Twice now we have gone with 10 people and he didn't skip a beat.


So on to the food and wine....We were in the mood for a Cab Sauv so we chose the 2003 Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon. We have had it before so we new it was a good wine, and it was fairly inexpensive ($30).

nose: blackberry, cassis, tobacco

taste: chocolate, blackberry, black cherry

mouthfeel: smooth silky tannins

finish: decent

Overall this wine is great, and retail it is only $13.00 so it makes a nice "everyday drinker" (A-)

Check out this link from the Daily Press in Hampton Roads Virginia, airing its opinion on Virginia Wineries gettng the shaft with the new self distrubtion laws. Click Here

Today on Wine Business News they brought up the recent uprising in Rose popularity. Click Here for article!

I have to agree with the opening statement of the article that I have in the past turned my nose up to Rose wines thinking the are overly sweet wines reminding me Arbor Mist. But over the past few months I have tasted quite a few dry Rose's that I thoroughly enjoy, especially with the extremely hot summer we are having. I find them refreshing with out being too crisp and harsh.

Last Nights Wine


2004 Autumn Hill Cabernet Franc


We picked this one up at one of the six weekends that Autumn Hill is open during the year. While we were there we took part in the cellar tour and barrel tasting which featured the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. We enjoyed lunch on their nice large deck and soaked up the sun and enjoyed a pleasant conversation with owner/winemaker Ed.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Cherry, Raspberry, Chocolate

Taste: Raspberry, "dark fruit", green pepper, cinnamon

Mouthfeel: Smooth Tannins, silky light/medium bodied texture

Finish: The checkered flag came a little earlier but is to be expected from a VA wine

Good Wine, very enjoyable, although the Green Pepper did show up on the taste, it isn't the over herbacious Cab Franc that sometimes arises in VA. (B) $18.95

Last Nights Wine

Trinitas 2003 Old VinesCuvee

The wine was delicious. My wife and I had tasted it at one of the Friday night tastings at our local wine shop (The Wine Cellar) and picked up about a month ago. The wine is primarily Zinfandel (75%), with Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mataro, Alicante Bouschet and Black Malvoisie rounded out the mix. The wine hits the nose with an amazing array of dark fruit, and rich chocolate right of the bottle. On the tounge it does not dissappoint, wonderful blackberry and blueberry notes with a distinct finish of leather and cinnamon which last for a good while. The only thing I would rate this wine down on is a personal preference of Zinfandels with a nice peppery finish, which I would have expected more so with the addition of Petite Sirah. Overall the wine was very good!! (A-) Price $16.95