Does the glass matter?

One who reads more about wine quickly learns of the views held by many professionals that some glasses help a wine taste even better. In particular, glasses made by this company. So, is there any truth to this view?

I had been dating someone who shared a love for wine. I gave her a pair of Riedel Sommeliers Bordeaux Grand Cru glasses for Christmas. And to match those glasses, we opened a bottle of Joseph Phelps Insignia 1999 -- a Meritage -- for our Christmas dinner.

We were amazed by how much the glasses influenced the wine. First, the glass directed the bouquet so that one could identify the aromas even when holding the glass at least eight inches under one's nose. And then tasting the wine! The wine was balanced and elegant, with a full arrange of flavors appearing on the tongue. We then tried the wine from a more mundane glass, and the aroma and the flavors were not as developed. The glass mattered for this experiment.

I have since repeated this test with Sommeliers glasses designed for Pinot noir, Rhone-blends and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay -- matched with a 2004 Martin Ray -- had a similar effect. Likewise, the Rhone glasses were sampled with a 2003 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert -- fruit on the nose with gravel underneath, and the palate contained dark berries and iron (the iron may not sound delicous, but it wonderfully added structure). On the other hand, at least two tries with the Pinot noir glasses fell flat -- however, each attempt was with rather low end Pinot noir and Burgundy.

So what do these experiments mean? Should one who enjoys wine buy any of the Sommeliers glasses? I think the answer is: it depends. These glasses matter when drinking very well made wines. However, for a wine that is lackluster to begin with . . . well, a glass cannot fix that, and may even make it worse. So, the question any oenophile must ask is:

(1) For the wine that I drink, is it good enough to be improved by a specially designed glass?

(2) Am I willing to forgo a few bottles in order to get some glasses that will make all of the other bottles I have taste that much better?

My answer: I'll use the glasses for the wines I really love, and not bother with the rest.