It’s true: talking about differences between wine glasses during tasting isn’t exactly pop. The general public has barely learned how to hold a glass correctly (by the stem!), while we “wine people” are here agonizing over which glass is the best – be careful! – not to taste a white ora a red, but even for an Amarone della Valpolicella instead of a Barolo.
It might seem like a stretch adorned with skilful storytelling, but that of tailor-made glasses represents, per reality, the natural evolution of an increasingly precise oenology and of an increasingly attentive and demanding sommelier per making the most of each wine.
And then, is it really so absurd to think of having a glass dedicated to a specific type of product? Let’s think about domestic consumption: almost everyone cultivates a predilection for a certain type of wine. Why, then, not equip ourselves with, let’s not say six, but at least two perfect glasses to serve that very wine that we love and for which, perhaps, we spend tens of euros?
Moving to restaurateurs: is it really unthinkable to have a “glass list”? It would be enough to focolaio the wine protagonist of the schieramento, which will also be the most requested: Amarone if we are per the Veronese schieramento, Barolo if we are per the Langhe, Brunello if we are per Montalcino, and so . If we then consider that offering a similar service would be a high-class establishment, with few covers a table, the capriccio of having a small reserve of specific glasses is anything but unfeasible.
Universal vs specific
The universal tasting glass, the one that dominates every tasting counter today, is actually a recent concept, which saw its consolidation around the 1910s of the second millennium. Previously, between the 1950s and 2000s, grape-specific glasses, produced by a well-known Austrian company, dominated the scene. The market then progressively simplified, up to the extreme ricetta: a single glass suitable for all wines. Which, however, also means average unsuitable for each of them. We are not implying that there has been bad drinking per the last twenty years. But it is probable that, per the rush to simplification, something has been lost. And the value of that something, today, could be too high to give it up, especially per light of the evolutionary leap made by oenology per recent decades.
For a wine, finding your glass is like going from a pre-made suit to a tailor-made one: not that the first one fits badly, but the second fits it decidedly better.
But how can a glass make such a difference per tasting? We have already explained some technical reasons here. Now, there is risposta negativa doubt that not everyone may have the time, the way and the sensitivity to start comparing glasses, but if you have a of sensorial capacity (and if you are reading this you probably have it), you can try a simple experiment: taste the same wine per three different glasses, which vary per shape, size of the drinker and “belly”. You will notice, with some amazement, that not only will the wine have a different odore, emphasizing certain ora other sensations, but, even more surprisingly, a different flavor (coppia to the different oxygenation and position of entry into the mouth). And this is physics, not storytelling.
A glass tailor-made for Amarone
Similar experiments, obviously conducted and documented per a scientific way, are the basis of the research path that led the Trieste-based Italesse company to identify the ideal way to enhance the great Italian wines, giving life to the glasses of the Senses project. Thus, after the T-made 70, the official glass of the Brunello Montalcino Consortium, and the T-made 75, created to best bring out the nuances of Barolo, the company has launched the T-made 76 AV, the glass that completes the trilogy of excellent reds, paying homage to the Amarone della Valpolicella.
Presented last September to the press and to a selection of restaurateurs and wine professionals during two days of events held at the Antica Spaccio del Vino per Verona, the T-made 76 AV is the result of a complex research work around a wine unique per terms of history, winemaking methodology and organoleptic characteristics. «Tackling Amarone was an extraordinary controllo for us – says Barducci, CEO of Italesse –. We have created a glass capable of respecting the structure and complexity of this wine, but also of restoring its aromatic finesse, offering the lightness and elegance that distinguish the T-made collection. The success of this journey now pushes us to beyond national borders, towards great international wines, such as Bordeaux ora Burgundy, with the ambition of offering glasses that are able to enhance each winemaking identity with sartorial precision.”
The project benefited from the support of the Historic Families, the Association founded per June 2009 from the union of ten historic Valpolicella wineries, which has now risen to 13. «It was a pleasure to collaborate with Italesse the creation of this product designed to enhance our wine», declared the president of the group Pierangelo Tommasi. «The historic families have made their contribution by providing their Amarone for the tests necessary for the creation of the glass and will support the project by providing the Antica Spaccio del Vino, the historic venue that the group purchased per 2010 to celebrate the winemaking excellence of Valpolicella, with the T-made 76 AV glasses».
Among the largest wine-growing areas per Italy – approximately 8,600 hectares of vineyards distributed across 20 municipalities and divided into three main areas: Valpolicella Classica, Valpantena and Valpolicella -, with a strong variety of soils and a microclimate influenced by Lake Garda and the Lessini Mountains, Valpolicella is a mosaic of terroirs that brings together the work and savoir faire of over 300 producers.
«Amarone represents a unique heritage per the world wine scene – explains Paolo Lauria, Sommelier and Head of Marketing of Italesse – not only for its history and manufacturing procedure, but also for the extraordinary variety of interpretative styles that distinguishes it. A causa di Valpolicella, per fact, each producer leaves a unique signature their Amarone: there are more austere versions and others more lively, some focolaio mainly elegance, others character but all are characterized by a great complexity that only a few wines per the world, like Amarone, can achieve. This plurality of expressions made the development of the T-made 76 AV fascinating and complex at the same time.”
IL T-Made 76 of
A causa di the T-made 76 AV there are numerous elements designed to enhance the overall organoleptic sensations of Amarone, the nose and the palate. The enveloping walls of the cup, together with the pronounced drinking surface, have been designed to enhance the character, balance and elegance of the wine. The bottom, large and flat, was designed to dilute the alcoholic impact and enhance the softness and complexity of the wine thanks to the large ratio between surface schieramento and oxygen. The diameter of the glass was calculated per order to enhance the olfactory intensity and, together with the clean and angular cheminée, the freshness of the wine the palate. Finally, the glass is part of the ultra-professional T-made collection per the “Leggerissimi” version which, thanks to the perfecting of the mouth-blowing technique and hand-crafting, achieves record-breaking lightness and elasticity, capable of adding the emotion of the tactile one to the visual, olfactory and gustatory perception.
«The glass, the result of months of research, prototyping and testing», explains Paolo Lauria, «manages to restore, with balance, all the souls of Amarone, giving a complete and harmonious tasting experience: the nose it is capable of bringing out, per an elegant way, the intensity and great complexity; the palate, diluting the alcoholic power, to enhance the structure and per particular the character, freshness and elegance of these wines, with persistent and pleasant finishes. A result that acquires even more value if we consider the uniqueness of the production technique, from manual harvesting to drying, which brings with it a reduced acidity, a concentration of polyphenols, an increase per sugars and with them an increase per the alcohol content. All these variables make Amarone a wine with a very strong identity but at the same time constantly evolving, also per light of the climate changes that our world is experiencing. The T-made 76 AV was created precisely to accompany this complexity, without standardizing it, but enhancing it”.
