Drinking wine out of a cup – Fourth of July edition
I’m just back from a few days in the woods, largely free of wifi and cell phone access. One evening, after a day of swimming and fishing, we were able to relax with some relatives and a glass of wine. Or perhaps I should say a cup of wine since the cabin where we were staying didn’t have any wine glasses. I uncorked a 2006 “La Croix Picot,” a Savennieres from Domaine Jo Pithon, poured it into 16-ounce green glasses, and passed them around. Even our two-year-old son laughed at the lack of wine glasses!
The assembled crew thought it was a terrific wine, despite the lack of stemware, with good acidity, white flowers and a dry honeycomb note. I guess sometimes the glassware can’t hold a good wine back. Did you have any wine in extreme circumstances over the Fourth?
Unfortunately, even with stemware, it would be hard to replicate the tasting since Domaine Jo Pithon no longer exists. The man, Jo Pithon, however does still exist and is now making wine under the label Pithon-Paillé with his step-son Joseph.
On July 6th, 2010 at 11:34 am ,ljh wrote:
Wisconsin wine! the whites were actually pretty good. They grow a bunch of weird varietals. But mostly lots of New Glarus beers and Carr Valley cheese! Extreme: rumors of a cougar in the area! and not the courtney cox kind but a real live mountain lion.
On July 6th, 2010 at 11:49 am ,Jesse Becker, MS wrote:
Just wrote about the new Pithon-Paille wines for an upcoming post @32NaturalDays, really love the Pithon’s perseverance. Surprisingly, the new wines have been slow to filter into shops and lists in the SF area. I just noticed online that the Chinon is in LA; I was with Joseph when he selected the grapes.
On July 6th, 2010 at 2:27 pm ,Benito wrote:
Disclaimer: Whenever I’m officially tasting, taking notes, and evaluating a wine for the blog, I use proper stemware.
However, with leftovers, all bets are off. On the Fourth I happened to combine the last inch or so from three bottles of Riesling into one jelly jar. Cold, crisp, and refreshing, and I ended up with a nice semi-dry blend.
When I was doing a lot of business travel I kept an unbreakable polycarbonate tumbler in my suitcase, and often used that for enjoying a glass of wine in the hotel room. It holds about half a litre and has enough room for swirling and sniffing properly. I still enjoy it for enjoying the last glass of wine from a bottle a few hours after dinner.
On July 6th, 2010 at 7:05 pm ,Randall Roberts wrote:
Sometimes a great wine will still shine in less than perfect glassware. And please excuse me for the shameless plug but i just discovered the GoVino wine glasses that you can take anywhere and they act like stemless crystal.
It’s worth a look if you’re prone to wanting wine in remote places. http://www.govinowine.com
On July 7th, 2010 at 9:54 am ,M Levy wrote:
Ive worked in the business for over 16 years, have a professional tasting glass, Riedel and Speigelau glassware at home, serve wine in Riedel glasses at work. This 4th, on the beach at Coney Island, I enjoyed a crisp Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, from a plastic cup. It was Heaven. I am not fancy when it comes to glassware, and have been known to drink wine from coffee cups,plastic cups, beer mugs, whatever is available. As soon as they make a grown up sippy cup, I’ll drink out of that too. Of course, I already have fashioned a grown up sippy cup out of a fancy pomegranate water bottle for concerts in the park, and parties where I know only beer will be served, and wine which I cannot bring myself to drink. That way I dont offend the host, and Im reducing my carbon footprint by recycling 😀
On July 7th, 2010 at 9:32 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Hi Jesse – I look forward to your posting on Pithon–Paille!
LJH – cougar, funny! Glad you found something good. Hybrids, perhaps?
Benito – Blending seminar?
M. Levy – Excellent!
On July 7th, 2010 at 11:12 pm ,Vinogirl wrote:
No strange containers on the 4th. But I have been known to drink a premium Oakville Cabernet sauvignon through a straw at one particular Christmas party…it just seemed more ladylike than swigging it!
On July 7th, 2010 at 11:36 pm ,RobinC wrote:
I had a similar experience. I brought a bottle of Brancott Sauvignon Blanc in the luggage to have after the opera in Santa Fe.but didn’t want to bring wine glasses. We asked for wine glasses at our hotel, but they never came. So we used the hotel’s glasses which were lovely: pebbled with a blue rim and we thought the wine was perfect.
On July 8th, 2010 at 7:22 am ,lara dunston wrote:
Momofuku Noodle Bar: we had a very average Pizy Sauvignon Blanc 09 (Touraine, France), a wine that you can pick up in a Paris supermarket for about 5 euros, but cost $40 at Momofuko’s – served in a glass tumbler. Not a wine glass on site. What’s with that?
I could argue that the wine wasn’t worth stemware in the first place, but if a customer is being charged $40 for a wine in a noodle bar, then they should at least be given real glasses.
But then staff wear the same sweaty t-shirts and shorts they wear all day, so what should we expect. Shows a complete disrespect for the customers. And the food wasn’t even very good. The popularity of the place is mindboggling.
On July 10th, 2010 at 12:03 pm ,007 wrote:
a glass of wine