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If you were a carpenter and you heard that Jesus was giving a hands-on lecture on dovetails, gables, and miter cuts, you would be excited. That’s how I felt when I heard that the guru of wine glasses would be in Sacramento. For carpenters, it’s a hammer. For winos, it’s the glass.

Have you ever had a nice glass of wine and looked down at the base and seen that smoke-colored name that every pronounces “ry-dell”? It’s Riedel (pronounced “re-dul”) as in George Riedel. All the way from Austria, I found out he was going to be at Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand Hotel doing a tasting. In Sacramento! Cancel all meetings.

With his Austrian accent and sharp wit, George guided us through a series of tastings in six different glasses, including the ubiquitous plastic cup you get at most park festivals. As the pinot noir went from the pinot glass to the chardonnay glass, George Riedel pointed out the green, hardness in taste and dramatic change in nose and taste. Pour the cabernet into the plastic cup then out again, and notice there is no nose. Plastic doesn’t hold aroma. The shape and size of the molecules change with the shape and size of the vessel. Outstanding.

“Think about French Oak vs. American Oak. French is slower growing creating a more grainy wood and that creates more oxidation in the barrel. These things in the glass all affect taste,” George told us. “The complication in glassware is noticeable. Functionality never ages.”

The room was filled with invited restaurant and hotel impresarios. Owners and operators from The Sterling Hotel, de Vere’s Irish Pub, Lemon Grass, L Wine Lounge & Urban Restaurant, Shady Lady Saloon, and David Berkley were just a handful of the restauratti in attendance. The historical event was hosted by Wine Warehouse, a wine and spirits distributor.

As we tasted and spit, Mr. Riedel gave us bits of history, stories of winemakers, and some science. You can find more amazing depth at www.riedel.com. But off the cuff, we were treated to George Riedel’s Top 3 ways to enjoy wine, so here it is, the gospel, straight from George Riedel, wine glass royalty.

George Riedel’s Top 3 Ways To Enjoy Wine  (as told at the Sheraton Grand Hotel Sacramento on Tuesday, June 2, 2009)

#3   Control Temperature
Gently chill red. It has an effect on the alcohol. Temperature and wine is an art. Want perfectly chilled white? Take a bucket of water and a handful of ice cubes, just a handful. You will have wine at 60 degrees. Overall, don’t over-chill the white.

#2   Decant
Decanting to aerate makes wine gain in quality.

#1   If a restaurant doesn’t have a Pinot Noir glass, don’t drink Pinot Noir!