I’ve just been reading in some magazine for high flying corporate execs about the design of wineglasses (before anyone thinks I’ve got a subscription, I should say I was reading it in a waiting room).
I’m really not sure how true any of this stuff actually is because after a glass or two of Pinot, the focus required to conduct rigorous tests obviously becomes less acute.
Anyway, the thinking in wine buff circles is that the shape of a glass affects the taste …by as much as £10 a bottle (ie three times what I pay for a bottle).
This occurs, they say, due to the contact the glass creates between wine and air and because of where in the mouth the glass directs the wine. See e.g. this item on ‘stemware’.
Today’s invention is an attempt to optimise the second (and presumably dominant, effect). This takes the form of an insert which clips to the side of any ordinary wineglass and which holds several plastic drinking straws. The straws then pass, in a tight bundle, through a mouthpiece which forms a seal with the tippler’s lips.
Each of the straws can be extended and rotated within the mouthpiece so as to be pointed at the parts of a drinker’s mouth which are thought to optimise the experience for each particular wine.
Small printed tongue icons, indicating the best straw positions for each wine would be provided (ideally on the rear of the bottle’s label).
