Wine glass manufacturer Riedel has filed a lawsuit in Germany against competitor Eisch challenging its marketing of a new line of glassware as 'breathable'.
The dispute revolves around a proprietary technology by which Eisch claims its glasses are 'oxygenated' after being blown. Eisch contends that the resulting 'breathable' glasses aerate wine faster than normal glasses, making young wines more expressive after only a few minutes of being poured.
According to Riedel boss Georg Riedel the third party who developed the glass oxygenation process first approached his company but was turned down after unsatisfactory tests.
'The people who developed this [process] made a presentation in our office to identify their breathable wines. They were not able to. We passed,' said Riedel.
Neither Riedel nor Eisch will disclose the name of the party which developed the process. Eisch would not disclose any information regarding the process.
'Many companies and individuals have tried to discover that information, and we consider it proprietary. The results speak for themselves,' Alan Zalayet, export chief at Eisch, told decanter.com.
Master of Wine and master sommelier Ronn Wiegand and writer Dan Berger both lauded Eisch's breathable glasses after participating with other wine professionals in comparative sensory tests at ETS Laboratories in Napa.
Zalayet remains defiant.
'We refuse to be intimidated by Mr. Riedel,' he said. 'We understand that he has a very aggressive approach to business. He purchased his major competitor as a way of eliminating competition, and he is now attempting to use his position of power to try to slow our growth in the market. The lawsuit does not affect any of our efforts in the USA market, nor does it question the fact that wines served in our glasses clearly have a more open and developed character.'
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I am a wine educator, and professional wine skeptic. I tested these wine glasses myself (you can read about it here: blog.wineeducation.com) and I was not swayed. Like any good scientist I did my best to create a fair blind test environment. The Eisch glasses did not stand out in my test vs. a regular inexpensive crystal stem. I certainly invite you to do the test yourself, and even critique my methods, but I am with Riedel on this one, I don't think these products are in the consumer's interests. Better known names than I were impressed with the glasses, so perhaps there is a way to stage the test better, or in the favor of the glasses; but, my tests did not indicate any real difference, much less improvement.
Stephen Reiss
I am not a wine educator, but I play one on TV.... I performed my own highly unscientific test comparing a similarly shaped £3 'Bordeaux' Spiegelgau with a £13 'Breathable' Eisch. I used a 2006 Chilean Pinot Noir, a 2006 Australian Shiraz and a 2006 Beaujolais, at 5,10,15 and 20 minute intervals. I could discern no difference in the nose or the taste in minutes 5,10 and 15, but by minute 20, not having spit out any of the wine I feel asleep. I believe both the Spiegelgau and the Eisch played equal parts in the massive headache I had afterwards.
Chick Wells, Atlanta, GA, USA
I have tried and tested the glasses and done comparisons with winemakers, in excess of 500 wine drinkers, and some wine journalists. All sorts of different beverages, not just wine (white and red) have been tasted. The range of consumers can be classified as some with educated palates and others not, those that have completed wine courses and others not. Most notably a local distributor for the most noted brand with a very educated nose and palate has tried the glasses and found them to make a difference! The general consensus is that approximately 90% of people who have tried the glasses prefer the breathable glass to the non-breathable alternative. Based on this skewed very basic non scientific approach to the collection of data and the results, there must be a difference!
Iain Downing
It is a very long time since I studied Physics and Chemistry at University, but unless the laws which underpin these disciplines have radically changed, I find it impossible to believe that a wine glass could be described as “breathable”.
If a wine glass is able to release oxygen into the contents, would it not be reasonable to expect that the same glass could take up other substances in the wine. Perhaps these breathable glasses will contribute oxygen one day, sulphur the next, Brettanomyces the day after, to say nothing of the potential for the glass to absorb flavours, acids and any of the many compounds which comprise wine.
Are we to believe that this new glass is some sort of a permeable membrane, and if not, by what alchemy is it able to release oxygen into the wine, without suffering reverse osmosis?
To any experienced taster who has used all the 'breathing' techniques available, ranging from decanting, covering the top of the tasting glass with one's hand and shaking the wine, tasting the wine daily over a period of days, etc., the notion that a few minutes in an Eisch glass would have any measurable impact on the wine is no more than a ludicrous marketing claim aimed at the significant minority of gullible humans who will believe just about anything!
Assuming Eisch have managed to achieve what they claim, since there can only be a small amount of oxygen in one of their glasses, what happens when this little bit of gas has been used up? Is Eisch going to offer an oxygen recharging service to its customers? Is there any chemist out there who believes that these glasses can continue to “Oxygenate” the contents indefinitely?
My view is that unless Eisch can demonstrate scientifically that its claim is valid, under truth in advertising laws and Trade Practices legislation, Eisch should not be allowed to make the claim.
One final point about Riedel. The Australian Wine Industry has recently announced that the old ISO tasting glass which have been used for ever in the host of Australian Wine shows are about to be totally replaced by Riedel glasses, because out wine judges are convinced of superiority of Riedel designs over all the alternatives.
Ivan Watt, Sydney, Australia
Pseudoscience making its way into the world of glassware!
Toby Bensimon, Adelaide, Australia
HI, as a winemaker I love Riedel glassware and use it when ever I can, however its a free market and Eisch should be able to develop and market glassware as they see fit, providing they do not harm the Riedel name in the process, ... bring it on
Russell Cook
As a winemaker of considerable experience I was asked by an acquaintance (who sells kitchen equipment) to test the validity of claims being made by a glass company (Eisch, as it happens) with regards to their glasses allowing wines to "breathe" better than standard ones. I approached the exercise with total scepticism and expected the claims to be another case of "snake oil" - I was only doing the exercise as a favour for a friend. I arranged for a number of blind tastings to be presented to me in glasses from Eisch and ones from Spiegelau of similar dimensions. I was blown away by the results – in every case there was a perceivable difference between the two glasses and in every case my preferred wine was from the Eisch glasses. The only downside to this exercise was that I already had a full complement of Spiegelau glasses and could not justify purchasing any of the Eisch product. I would be interested to know though if the Eisch treatment has a limited life or if it is good for the life of the glasses.
Evan Ward, Winemaker, New Zealand
I am am a sommelier. I taste wines for a living. My first introduction to the breathable was a sample that I left at work for months. I had my first tasting with three or four other sommeliers ( one of which was my boss). We tasted several wines that night including a 1986 Chateau Lafite. There was a distinct difference in every wine we tasted (about six).
I find the wines that benefit the most are the ones that are not quite showing as they should or wines that are in a bit of a dumb stage. Definitely, wines that need to be decanted will drink better sooner with the "breathables":. The breathable decanter that we soon bought for the restaurant was not as impressive. I will say that I tested these glasses as quite the skeptick...And I close in saying that they are not for every type of wine, as I have used them at home ever since... Oscar Braaf, Sommelier, Las Vegas, USA
I have tasted these glasses, unscientifically, on my own as well as with friends. My friends not being highly educated with wine always apologize before-hand saying that they will probably not be able to tell the difference; they always do, to their great surprise. The Eisch glasses clearly provide a better tasting experience, with the wines becoming smoother and rounder after 2-3 min. I suppose Riedel want to maintain their overpriced monopoly, and I can't blame them – but that's not for me. I don't get why Riedel wouldn't use this technology if it was offered to them first, as it is clearly superior to regular crystal; just sounds fishy.
Greg Fermont
Like others who have responded, I have conducted totally non-scientific experiments among friends and family using the Eisch glassware. I certainly cannot explain how it works, nor can I quantify any measurable difference. However, consistently those of us who do not have highly trained pallets can notice a discernable difference. Even if there is no scientific basis, what harm is done in allowing us to enjoy the wines that we drink in a glass we prefer? Shouldn't personal preference play a part in this debate?
Yesterday I went to buy some more Eisch glassware and my normal supplier was out. Perhaps the lawsuit by Riedel is having the opposite effect…people are buying more Eisch glassware because of the lawsuit. As for me and my family, we will stick with the Eisch because we like it, and it works for us.
Stephen C. Shepherd
This is not a comment on whether or not the Eisch breathable glass works. It is simply hypothetical speculation on how it might work, given the fact that some earlier posts dismissed the possibility of a "breathable" glass. Etchings on the inside surface of the glass could be small enough to prevent molecules of water (Van der Waals radius 14,000 picometers) or most other wine compounds from entry but large enough to allow entry of molecules of oxygen (Van der Waals radius 152 picometers) and probably other components of air, in particular nitrogen (Van der Waals radius 155 picometers). This would be similar to the mechanism by which GoreTex (possibly a more appropriate plaintiff) fabrics allow the free passage of small water vapor molecules while inhibiting passage of large liquid water molecules. Oxygen residing at the interface of the wine could react with the wine. To the extent that the oxygen in the etchings were of sufficient quantity, the wine would breathe across much of the entire surface area of its volume, not just across the top surface. Presumably, the oxygen supply would be recharged with each washing and drying or may be continually recharged if long etchings run vertically up the inside surface area of the glass and above the
surface of the wine.
Keith Sockman, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Hi, as a retail establishment that sells Eisch breathable glasses they do what they say they do. We have not had one customer return the product. It appears this Christmas it is one of the hottest items in our company. We also sell the whole line of Riedel products and I'm here to tell you the customers are purchasing breathable over Riedel. As a retailer I also see how Eisch is cutting into Riedel profits. We have sold less of Riedel since Eisch has hit our stores. It appears that Riedel now has competition, go Eisch!
SKH, Tampa, Florida, USA
My sister and I are restaurant owners and retailers. We are not scientists nor professional tasters but we know what tastes good when we try it. We were first approached by our wine rep with the Eisch glasses and we did the taste tests, non scientific. We were so excited about the difference we immediately purchased the stemware. We then proceeded to give anyone who came in and ordered wine the opportunity to see for themselves how much better the wine tasted in Eisch glasses. There was not one person who thought otherwise. We must have sold 10 cases the first weekend just from people tasting on their own. We even had the ultimate tasters, winemakers tasting their own wines, do the taste test. One winemaker said the difference was so significant that he always wanted his wines to be poured in Eisch as they were clearly the better. We have no stake in either company. We are not salespeople but we can sell a boatload of these glasses because we believe in them. We use Reidel as well as Eisch in our restaurant. If I had to say a negative thing about Eisch is they are so good that people take them. They are also a little more fragile than Reidel.
Rebecca & Aimee, Wine Cottage Bistro, California, USA
I can see why Reidel is nervous about the new "breathable" glasses from Eisch. These breathable glasses work and many people are converting. I work at a winery as a Wine Tasting Specialist, and I have conducted many blind-tastings with this unique stemware. Every person - including staff and customers - has prefered the same wine decanted in the Eisch glasses. Even inexperienced tasters notice differences in the wines' flavors and aromas. Within 5 minutes, tannins mellow, the nose matures and subtle flavors come forward. Personally, I have found these glasses make the biggest difference with young and high tannic wines. I was very sceptical at first; however, the differences were immediately clear. Don't take my word for it. Host a blind tasting yourself. I will continue putting my money down on the Eisch glasses.
John Goudie
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I am a wine educator, and professional wine skeptic. I tested these wine glasses myself (you can read about it here: 
My sister and I are restaurant owners and retailers. We are not scientists nor professional tasters but we know what tastes good when we try it. We were first approached by our wine rep with the Eisch glasses and we did the taste tests, non scientific. We were so excited about the difference we immediately purchased the stemware. We then proceeded to give anyone who came in and ordered wine the opportunity to see for themselves how much better the wine tasted in Eisch glasses. There was not one person who thought otherwise. We must have sold 10 cases the first weekend just from people tasting on their own. We even had the ultimate tasters, winemakers tasting their own wines, do the taste test. One winemaker said the difference was so significant that he always wanted his wines to be poured in Eisch as they were clearly the better. We have no stake in either company. We are not salespeople but we can sell a boatload of these glasses because we believe in them. We use Reidel as well as Eisch in our restaurant. If I had to say a negative thing about Eisch is they are so good that people take them. They are also a little more fragile than Reidel.
