Last week, two of my life long friends and I, known locally as the Local Lunch Gals, went to one of downtown Eugene’s newest and finest restaurants: Soubise. We were invited to come for dinner to experience their wine and food while the filming of an upcoming Rick Dancer TV show was taking place – the Local Lunch Gals were being featured in this particular episode, which was food-centric.
As impressive and delicious as the food at Soubise, I was totally swept off of my feet by the Burgundy wine glasses that arrived alongside a bottle of Ayres 2011 Perspective Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir. Stunningly gorgeous, I immediately asked our server the brand name of the glasses, and he said, ” Zalto Denk`Art, they’re made in Austria.” There’s not much out there that gets me more excited than stellar stemware, indeed, I am an admitted wine glass snob – I just had to find out more about Zalto.
One of the co-owners of Soubise, Cory Stamp, came over to the table with the whole line of Zalto glasses, along with my beloved Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glass. He explained that Zalto glasses were the best of the best, and I’m sure he could see my doubt as he poured some Pinot Noir into the Riedel and into the Zalto – I have been a huge fan of Riedel’s Oregon Pinot Noir glass for a very long time. I swirled and sniffed the Pinot out of the Zalto Burgundy glass and also swirled and sniffed the Pinot from the Riedel – I instantly noticed a difference. Alcohol was more pronounced in the Riedel, and the aromas were not as fruit-focused as they were in the Zalto. The texture of the Pinot from the Zalto was amazingly luxurious: silky waves of cherries, orange peel, earth and fall spices flowed in seamless waves from the front of the palate all the way to the lengthy, ambrosial finish. Acidity was smooth and balanced out the fruity characteristics to perfection.