Wine Industry Report

Wine industry professionals approve innovative new stemware at CIA event

St. Helena, Calif - Eisch Glaskultur, hosted a special event with Master Sommelier and Master of Wine Ronn Wiegand and renowned wine writer Dan Berger at the Culinary Institute of America on Wednesday, November 14. On the guest list were wine industry professionals from more than 50 Napa Valley wineries, who came to sample Eisch’s newest and most innovative product, the “Breathable Glass” fine wine glass.

“Our ‘Breathable Glass’ products have revolutionized the experience of pouring and enjoying a glass of fine wine,” said Alan Zalayet, Partner and President of Export for Eisch Glaskultur. “We held this event to provide industry professionals the opportunity to experience for themselves how a wine poured into one of our ‘Breathable Glass’ wine glasses will within two to four minutes show signs of aeration equivalent to a wine that has been decanted and aerated for one to two hours.”

The event took place in the CIA Ecolab Theater, where each attendee was given a “Breathable Glass” and a standard glass to sample three wines: a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon provided by Jackson Estate. Wiegand and Berger led the tastings, providing their feedback and engaging in Q & A with attendees.

“I was, of course, skeptical at first of the claims that [Eisch Breathable glasses] softened wine and enhanced their characteristics within just a few minutes,” said Wiegand. “But I found that they actually do. This is a real contribution to the enjoyment of wine.”

Event attendees agreed. “The Eisch Glaskultur Breathable stemware is something that both the wine-savvy aficionado and the wine novice can use and appreciate,” said Adrian Rincon, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Visitor Center Manager. “It tames the harsh tannins in young red wines and brings the fruit and subtle nuances to the forefront, allowing for optimum enjoyment.”

Said Kaia Van Praag, Kuleto Estate Family Vineyards Hospitality Manager, “The seminar was very enlightening. The glassware truly made a significant difference in how the wine tasted and allowed each wine to present in the best possible light.”

Eisch “Breathable Glass” wine glasses possess two unique qualities that significantly shorten the duration of the aeration process. First, the shape of each glass has been specially designed to accentuate the character of the wine it holds. Second, each glass is made of the highest quality lead-free crystal glass that undergoes a special proprietary oxygenizing treatment. Together, these qualities allow the wine in the glass to fully aerate within minutes, as opposed to potentially hours with standard stemware. “This is a fully natural process that takes place within the wine itself, leaving the original
character and structure of the wine intact and its aroma and palate more open and generous,” said Zalayet.

Gordon Burns, President and Technical Director of ETS (Enological Testing Services) Laboratories, who participated in a taste test earlier this year with the “Breathable Glass” glassware, said, “The tasting left me convinced that ‘Breathable Glass’ can have an almost immediate sensory impact across several wine types and glass shapes.”

Eisch Glaskultur “Breathable Glass” wine glasses (SRP $19 - $26) are currently available at retail at Bed, Bath & Beyond
(www.bedbathandbeyond.com) and at Macy’s headquarter stores nationwide. The Eisch family, through three generations, has grown Eisch Glaskultur into one of the world’s finest and most important glass manufacturers. In 1946 Valentin Eisch, together with his wife Therese and six children, started their own glass refining company. Over the next several decades,
the family and its employees dedicated themselves to growing Eisch Glaskultur into a world-renowned company, producing some of the world’s finest glassware. Today, the company is run by Julia Eichinger-Eisch and Eberhard Eisch, third generation members of the Eisch family. Erwin Eisch, son of Valentin and Therese Eisch, is a famous glass artist and inspiration to the Eisch family and its glass products. The name Erwin Eisch is inseparably linked with the Studio Glass Movement, a movement
of artists that freed glass from being a functional material to elevate it as a medium for artistic expression. Eisch is credited in the world of art for giving glass poetic value.