Riedel Wine Glass Quality/Series

Does anyone who has taken the Riedel Wine Glass Demonstration know what series of glasses Celebrity provides to the guests as part of the event? My wife and I have a few of the Vinum series already, but could use more.

Cheers,

mgcarnut

I would imagine it would be this set:

http://www.celebrityvineyards.com/default.asp?catid=13&parentid=0&viewproduct=1&productid=5

Price on the web site is about the same as offered on the ship and it goes along with the theme of how the glass effects the wine. Don't know this for a fact as I haven't been to it yet. Was planning on it for my Feb Solstice trip.

Thanks mabrandt, it looks like they are the Vinum series. I was naturally skeptical, but we had a comparison demonstration a few years back at a wine seller in Placerville, and found their claims to be true! It has something to do with how the curvature of the glass directs the wine to the area of the tongue best suited to detect the flavor of the wine. They have designed each glass for a particular class of wines.

I also heard that some years ago the owner of Riedel took his glasses to the Christian Brothers winery here in California. At first the winemakers thought he was a crackpot, but after a comparison test they were convinced. Now they use Reidel glasses for all their tastings.

I'll sign us up for the class on our January Panama Canal transit. The cost is a little better than buying Vinum glasses locally, and you get the fun of the wine tasting thrown in as well. Another plus is that you can obtain a certificate to order the glasses after your cruise, so you don't risk breakage while hauling them home.

DW & I have each done this twice.

Once in the Med & once during a Caribbean trip.

Caribbean we hauled the sets off the ship ourselves. (Live close to Lauderdale)

Med trip - had them shipped. Took 6 weeks.

Everything they claim relevant to tasting is true. No mind games no tricks.

We'll do it again on our Jan 2010 cruise if they have it.

Dh was a big skeptic until we did the reidel wine tasting on the Mercury last year he is now a believer.

My husband loves these glasses and I am surprising him with a GC for both of us to attend - now we will have 8 glasses.

Does anyone who has taken the Riedel Wine Glass Demonstration know what series of glasses Celebrity provides to the guests as part of the event? My wife and I have a few of the Vinum series already, but could use more.

Cheers,

mgcarnut

I just did this on the Infinity through the Panama, I rec'd 1 Montrachet Chardonny, 1 Sauvigon Blanc, 1 Burgandy & 1 Bordeau. My DH will probably try the Riedel Wine Glass demonstration next cruise. After you do the demonstration you will be drinkig out of the Riedel in the MDR from then on. I chose to take them with me so they were sent to my stateroom on the last day all boxed up. Could not possibly take home 2 sets on the plane.

Enjoy!

Ziggy, They have it. I believe you are on our Equinox sailing on the 4th. I just signed up for it online under beverage packages. Can't wait!

How does the Vivant series compare with the Vinum series of Riedel?

I would love to do the tasting without buying the glasses because I already have all the glasses I need, but I would like to do the head to head comparrison. Too bad they don't offer that.

After you do the demonstration you will be drinkig out of the Riedel in the MDR from then on.

How does that work? Do you bring a glass with you to the MDR? How do you know which one?

j

Every night after the Riedel seminar I had the appropriate Reidel glass at my table brought with my wine selection by the sommeliar. It was the Vinum series of glasses. One set of four glasses comes with the session and you can order others for I think it was $78. As the glasses reatil for about $28-34 each, it's a great deal. Love them, and I was a skeptic at first.

Hello Ridel is defintely the way to go. Our somelier discussed the glasses with us the first night of the cruise. If we signed up for the seminar then we had the glasses every night for dinner. Our seminar was the second to last night of the cruise. They are very well packed and we carried them on our flight from Barcelona to Montreal with no problems. The shipping fee to Canada was not worth it. We will be attending the seminare again on our next cruise so we have 4 sets. The vinum series is wonderful. We purchased the stemless set locally and they are great as well.

So these are ship-owned glasses that they bring? We signed up for the seminar for our December cruise and I was trying to figure out if we leave our seminar set behind for dinner usage. So that's great news.

j

How does the Vivant series compare with the Vinum series of Riedel?

Grace,

After a bit of Internet research, it appears the Vinum series is the best quality machine-made glass that Riedel offers. The Vivant series is a mass-market glass sold by Target, and the stem and base are visibly thicker than the Vinum. At the top of their line is the Sommelier series, which are hand-blown. I checked relative prices for Cabernet/Bordeaux glasses in each series, the Vivant are ~14.00 each, the Vinum are ~25.00 each, and the Sommelier are..wait for it..105.00 each! Remember that the shape of the bowl is the same across the series, therefore the wine should taste equally as good from any of the glasses. We already have 3 Vinums here at home, two Cabernet and one Chardonnay (dropped its mate in the sink a year or so ago).

You and Tom thinking of signing up for the glass demo? Maybe we can get the rest of the 'hood together for a big wine fest!

Cheers,

Paul (aka mgcarnut)

Ziggy, They have it. I believe you are on our Equinox sailing on the 4th. I just signed up for it online under beverage packages. Can't wait!

Great !!! It might be a good idea for us to sign up in advance too !!

Thanks GL. See you at the tasting !

ZiggyWineO :)

I have been reading the various posts about these seminars. How does one go about signing up for them in advance?

Thanks.

How does that work? Do you bring a glass with you to the MDR? How do you know which one?

 

j

Your Sommlier will automatically bring you the appropriate glass for what you are drinking. Also Celebrity is the only company outside of Riedl that is allowed to do the demonstations. At least that is what we were told.

I have been reading the various posts about these seminars. How does one go about signing up for them in advance?

Thanks.

I signed up when I did the on line check in, it should be there.

If a couple wants to do this tasting do both have to register or can it be a shared experience? I assume the benefit of prebooking this online prior to the cruise is saving the 15% gratuity charge on the ship. Is this correct?

I was looking at some Reidel wine glasses today at my local Homsense and they were $49.99 for a box of 8 but they were the Tyroler series. How does this compare to the Vinum series that the ship sells and why were these so cheap in comparison? I'm thinking I may sign up for the Reidel workshop onboard if the glasses are of good quality.

If a couple wants to do this tasting do both have to register or can it be a shared experience? I assume the benefit of prebooking this online prior to the cruise is saving the 15% gratuity charge on the ship. Is this correct?

If a couple wants to do this tasting do both have to register or can it be a shared experience? I assume the benefit of prebooking this online prior to the cruise is saving the 15% gratuity charge on the ship. Is this correct?

You both have to register and there is no 15% gratuity since it is a seminar and not a wine sale.

I just signed up for this, we are doing the 10 southern caribbean on Millennium in Jan does anyone know when the tasting will take place?

I think when you sign up online the 15% gratuity is reflected in the price. I would assume that it is for the tasting portion of the workshop. I don't think they would charge gratuity on the cost of the wine glasses.

If a couple wants to do this tasting do both have to register or can it be a shared experience? I assume the benefit of prebooking this online prior to the cruise is saving the 15% gratuity charge on the ship. Is this correct?

I just signed up for this, we are doing the 10 southern caribbean on Millennium in Jan does anyone know when the tasting will take place?

For us it was the second to last day of the cruise. If you sign up the first night with your sommelier you will have the glasses every night at dinner.