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This is the best glass we have poured Pinot Noir into, and it is also the one most likely to make you wince at the checkout. The bowl is enormous, the aroma lift is real, and the Australian price is roughly double what Riedel asks on its own site.
It is the flat-bottomed one, part of the Winewings range. Officially it is the Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo glass, which turns out to matter more than it sounds.
Table of Contents
What It Is
Riedel article number 1234/07. Machine-made crystal glass, one glass in a branded box, and dishwasher safe with a caveat. The bowl holds around 950 millilitres and Riedel recommends a pour of about 125 millilitres. That is a glass eight times bigger than the wine going into it, which looks daft on a table and makes complete sense once you smell it.
The flat base is the whole idea. Instead of the wine sitting in a rounded well, it spreads into a wide shallow pool with far more of it touching air. More evaporation means more aroma. It stands about 25 centimetres tall and the bowl is about 11.5 centimetres across at its widest.
Who It Is For
Anyone who drinks light, perfumed reds. Riedel lists this shape for Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Barolo, Barbaresco, Beaujolais Cru, Nerello Mascalese and Xinomavro, among others. That is a useful list, because it means one glass covers most of the delicate red family rather than just one grape.
It is not for a small kitchen. Measure the shelf before you buy, because this thing is tall and wide and unforgiving about cupboards.
How We Tested It
One bottle of Yarra Valley Pinot Noir poured at 14 degrees into three glasses: this one, a standard Burgundy bowl, and an ordinary all-purpose glass. Same pour, same table, smelled in rotation at five minutes and again at twenty.
A kitchen bench, not a laboratory. That is also where you will use it.
What We Liked
It finds the perfume. Pinot Noir lives or dies on aroma, and this glass gives you noticeably more of it. Rose petal and red cherry arrive without a swirl. Against the ordinary all-purpose glass it was not a close contest.
It calms down a tannic wine. The wide surface gives the wine air quickly, which is why it suits Nebbiolo as much as Pinot. Twenty minutes in this glass does something like a short spell in a decanter. Our decanter guide covers when you still need the real thing.
It is light in the hand. Thin walls and a rim you do not notice, which is the main thing separating good crystal from heavy pub glassware.
One shape, several grapes. Pinot, Nebbiolo, Gamay and the Etna reds all suit it, so it earns its shelf space more than a single-grape glass usually does.
What We Did Not Like
The price in Australia. Riedel lists this single glass at US$50. At the time of writing the Australian Amazon listing was $116.15 for one glass. That is a gap worth ten minutes of shopping around at a local homewares retailer or a Riedel stockist.
It is huge. A 950 millilitre bowl on a 25 centimetre stem does not fit a crowded dinner table, a normal dishwasher rack or most kitchen cupboards. Guests will also try to fill it, which is a conversation you will have more than once.
The wine warms up. A shallow pool with a lot of air above it loses its chill quickly. Pour small and pour often, or serve the wine a degree or two cooler than usual.
Dishwasher safe, with an asterisk. Riedel says yes and then says to make sure the glass never touches anything else. In a full household load that is not a promise anyone can keep.
Alternatives Worth Considering
- The Winewings Sauvignon Blanc glass. Same design, white wine shape, and the same price problem. See our Winewings Sauvignon Blanc review.
- A classic Burgundy bowl. Rounded rather than flat-bottomed, much easier to store, and it gets you most of the way for less money.
- The Winewings tasting set. Four glasses for less than three singles, if you have decided the shape is for you.
- A good all-purpose glass. If you drink everything and store nothing, this is the sensible answer. The glasses roundup has the options.
What to Pour in It
Give it a Pinot Noir with something to say, because a simple one will not fill a glass this size. Cool-climate Australian Pinot is the obvious place to start.
Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba The Underground Project Pinot Noir 2022
A cool-climate Australian Pinot with the aromatic detail this glass exists to magnify. Serve it at about 14 degrees and give it ten minutes before you judge it.
- Tumbarumba fruit, one of the coolest and highest vineyard areas in New South Wales
- Proper Pinot perfume rather than jammy fruit, which is what this glass is built to show
- Enough structure to still be interesting after twenty minutes in the glass
- A single-vineyard wine at fifty dollars
- Fifty dollars is a Saturday bottle, not a Tuesday one.
The Verdict
The glass does what it says. If you drink Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo often, it will change what you smell, and that is not a small thing when aroma is most of the flavour.
Buy it near Riedel’s own list price and it is an easy recommendation. At Australian Amazon prices for a single glass, buy the four-glass tasting set or a plain Burgundy bowl and spend the difference on a better bottle. Check the current price here: Riedel Winewings Pinot Noir on Amazon Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Riedel Winewings Pinot Noir glass worth buying?
If you drink light, perfumed reds often, yes. The aroma difference against an ordinary glass is obvious rather than subtle. The catch is price: in Australia a single glass can cost more than double Riedel’s own list price, so where you buy matters as much as what you buy.
What wines suit this glass?
Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo first. Riedel also lists Barolo, Barbaresco, Beaujolais Cru, Nerello Mascalese and Xinomavro. Broadly, reds with more perfume than muscle.
How big is the Winewings Pinot Noir glass?
About 950 millilitres in the bowl and roughly 25 centimetres tall, with a bowl around 11.5 centimetres across. Measure your cupboard before you order.
How much wine should you pour into it?
About 125 millilitres, which is Riedel’s recommendation. It will look almost empty. The space above the wine is where the aroma collects, so filling the bowl works against the design.
Can it go in the dishwasher?
Riedel says yes for its crystal glass range, as long as the glass never touches anything else in the rack. That usually means running it in a half-empty load, so hand washing is quicker.
Is it better than a normal Burgundy glass?
It gives more aroma lift, mostly because the flat base spreads the wine wider. A classic Burgundy bowl is close behind, cheaper and far easier to store. The gap is real but it is not enormous.
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