Breathable stemware

Salut/Hi jo,

le/on 6 Feb 2005 09:04:51 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

Seems to me to be an excellent reason TO post it, or am I misreading something?

Strange that he is avoiding doing the one thing that WILL give him guaranteed protection from rip-offs - but also requires him to reveal the details.

Ah, so you have a vested interest in the product. Fine. At least we know where you stand.

I have no problems with designing special shaped glassware. I have every problem with claims about breathable glassware. I said, and I repeat, the composition of the glass itself cannot have any significant effect on the oxidation process that is involved when wine is aired.

Many prestigious winemakers also agree that the mystical neo-Steinerist crap that hovers around the brink of the Bio-dynamic movement is also gospel true. The fact that some prestigious winemakers agree that the glasses work, proves nothing.

So we agree about that aspect at least. So if oxygen isn't permeating the glass, then it seems to me the claim that the glass is "breathable" is bad English at the very least. There are only three ways it seems to me by which the glass can effect the speed of oxidation.

1. Permeability. We've eliminated that.
2. Surface effect, hypothetically possible, but highly unlikely in a mass produced glass (using the word glass technically).
3. Chemical reaction. and or some kind of catalytic effect. Equally HIGHLY improbable, and likely to cause deep problems with the FDA.

Sorry, Jo, I remain very skeptical. I can accept that the shape of the glass can affect your perception of the taste. That's all. I am HIGHLY suspicious of your claim that in two glasses of identical shape (which should include thickness of the glass as well, of course) one can produce consistently and significantly better results.

Seems even stranger since they are already being advertised in the IWA catalog with Ronn R. Wiegand giving his testimonial right on the back cover. He seems to be the publisher of a wine newsletter called Restaurant Wine. The list price on these glasses range from $40 to $45us.

In the same catalog, Tritan Stemware made from a new patented, titanium- based crystal is advertising stemware that you don't have to worry about breaking. Now if we could get unbreakable breathable stemware it would be great. Bill

A very genteel way of saying this "breathable glass" stuff sounds to you (and to me also) like a truckload of bull$hit.

-- ================================================Do you like wine? Do you live in South Florida? Visit the MIAMI WINE TASTERS group at

My skepticism about these "breathable" stems is no secret.

I was fortunate enough to meet Jo yesterday at a wine event in San Francisco, and firsthand experience these stems.

Jo had two glasses that were visually identical but one has been "activated" and the other has not. She poured, from the same bottle at the same time, some Petite Sirah (the very delicious Earthquake 2003 Petite Sirah from Michael David Winery Lodi). I waited a few minutes, then nosed each glass. The difference was amazing - one glass had one-tenth the nose of the other. Jo had told me in advance that the "activated" stem has an Eisch logo on the base - indeed, this glass seemed to amplify the wine's nose.

My wife did not know which glass was which and nosed them both - she also picked the "activated" glass. Several other bystanders did, as well.

So, it's pretty clearly not the shape alone of the stem. There's something about the glass that brings out the nose a great deal.

I visually inspected the glasses - they appeared identical, including thickness. I held them up to a light, looking for the tell-tale signs of diffraction. Nothing.

There was no chemical odor detectable.

The miniscus in both glasses remained the same color as far as I could tell.

So, while I would not actually call them "breathable" glasses in the sense that they oxidize the wine, they certainly amplify the nose of the wine and I can't explain why.

I'm certainly interested enough to have another look.

Cheers, Dana

Well, my experience was certainly that two glasses that visually appear to be identical differed substantially in the presented nose. I probably wouldn't call it a "breathable" glass - the nose was amplified but not distorted.

Cheers, Dana

Was the meniscus the same size / profile?

Yes, I was looking for signs of wetting at the meniscus and could find none.

Dana

-- ================================================Do you like wine? Do you live in South Florida? Visit the MIAMI WINE TASTERS group at

"Ah, so you have a vested interest in the product. Fine. At least we know where you stand."

You made an inaccurate assumption, as you don't have all the information.

I haven't been given one cent from Eisch for advancing this stemware... Invested? Nope.

As the director of a group of growers and producers of Petite Sirah, I wanted to taste PS in a glass that would be constructed for the varietal... for... as you know... most other varietals also have their own perfectly constructed vessels. I want the best for the varietal. I'm not on Eisch's payroll, and nearly all I do for PS I Love You is pro bono... . -- jo

Ian Hoare wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Good evening Ian

And, no, the glasses aren't porous.

If I read this right the glass could still be porous on an atomic level letting in O2 molecules and not permitting anything larger through. Not that I buy it but it is what is suggested.

I doubt that's the case. That simply wouldn't happen in a section of material thick enough to construct wine glasses from.

IOW, if there really is any truth to the claims, I'd wager that it's due to some sort of surface effect. I don't see how that's possible, but I wouldn't discount the possibility out of hand.

I need to try this for myself. Where can I get one of these glasses?

Tom S

"Tom S" wrote in news:ImSRd.1733$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com:

Actually I was thinking that if they could do this they could make transparent aluminum ala Star Trek ;-)

Hey, maybe they will implement the "beam me up" machine for wine. Just think of the possibilities. You go to wine store and see they have a few bottles of Screaming Eagle, which you can't afford, so you "beam up" a couple of ounces of the stuff from one of the bottles into your mouth.

-- ================================================Do you like wine? Do you live in South Florida? Visit the MIAMI WINE TASTERS group at

Not bad. How about a "'Way Back" machine for those bottles you foolishly held onto for too long?

Tom S

The real use for a "way back" machine would be to go back to buy those bottles you could have bought for $20 THEN, but are $500 now! Jim

Another use, perhaps even better, is to go back and not buy those $80 bottles that seemed like a good idea at the time...

Dana