Semillon launch
Queen Elizabeth and I have something in common. We both drink wine out of Riedel glasses.
“That’s right,” said Riedel regional territory manager Alysha Harker.
“Queen Elizabeth was the first to order Riedel glasses, our very first glass style, the Burgundy Grand Cru. And now you’re drinking out of four glasses in our Veritas line, the BMW of wine glasses.”
Harker hosted a tasting with Riedels this week in the wine experience room of Oak+Cru restaurant at the Delta Grand hotel in Kelowna.
I used to think I was quite the sophisticate because there are three styles of wine glasses in my cupboard, one for white, another for reds and, of course, flutes for sparkling.
Riedel has 120 different varietal-specific lead crystal glasses available in Canada.
Now, I’m not about to add shelving to the kitchen to accommodate such a wide array.
But I am sold on owning the four varietal styles in the Veritas line for Riesling, oaked Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot.
Each glass shape is designed to deliver optimum aroma when you sniff and place the wine on the right spot on your tongue when you sip.
“Really, it’s just all about physics,” said Harker.
“Wine can be changed by the glass.”
To prove the point, we taste 2016 Kitsch Riesling out of the Riesling glass.
It is, indeed, perfect with racy fruit, minerality and a hint of petrol, which is a good thing in this variety.
We then try the Riesling out of the Chardonnay glass and, all of a sudden, the wine has lost most of its fruit and tastes hotter and alcoholic.
The right glass-wrong glass experiment is repeated with the 2015 Nighthawk Chardonnay from Okanagan Falls, CedarCreek 2015 Pinot Noir from Kelowna and 2014 Young & Wyse Cabernet Sauvignon from Osoyoos.
Every time, the wine tastes divine out of the varietal-specific glass and flawed from other glasses.
It’s Harker’s job to educate as many winery tasting rooms, restaurants and consumers that Riedel is the way to go.
It can be as simple as the standard Ouverture Magnum glass that helps all varieties taste good.
Or, as many varietal-specific glasses as possible.
Hudson’s Bay is the biggest retailer of Riedel glasses in the Okanagan with prices starting at $25 for a set of two glasses.
The flinty, citrus style of Semillon is the ideal pairing for fresh seafood.
As such, West Kelowna’s Mt. Boucherie Winery, one of the few in the Valley to make a stand-alone Semillon, threw a Semillon and Seafood party to introduce its 2013 edition.
Releasing an unoaked white when it’s four years old may seem odd, since most whites are meant to be drunk young.
But Semillon is one of those whites that not only holds up to aging, but changes and evolves into something better over time.
As such, the 2013 is crisp, the 2011 riper with refined tastes of mandarin peel and honeycomb.
In fact, Semillon can be aged for up to a dozen years.
Mt. Boucherie’s wine club members and invited guests sipped 2011, 2012 and 2013 Semillons crafted by winemaker Jimy Faulkner with seafood by The Table at Codfathers’ chef Ross Derrick.
Each vintage found harmony with the Moroccan scallops, fish tacos and just-schucked oysters.
The 2013 Semillon is now for sale for $18.
Check out pairing seafood recipes. for