Jansz hosted an exclusive panel of wine experts at Sydney's Quay earlier this year on a mission to find the perfect glass from which to sip Tasmanian Sparkling wine.

Jansz's Tasmanian winemaker, Jennifer Doyle, suggested the traditional Champagne flute is not it, saying that it holds back and compresses the intense flavours characteristic of Tasmania's Sparkling wines.

Doyle said: “Most people are familiar with the Champagne flute, and some may even be familiar with the coupe and tulip glasses. We felt the flute compressed the wine, not allowing the beautiful aromatics and expressive qualities of Tasmanian Sparkling to really shine in the glass.

"Our Vintage Sparklings, and particularly our aged wines, are extremely complex in aroma and flavour and demanded a glass that allowed those characters to emanate."

Expert guests - winemakers, writers, sommeliers, proprietors and marketers - sampled Jansz Cuvées and Rosés in 12 different glasses, sharing their individual assessments of wine aroma, taste and appearance, as well as the weight and feel of each glass, finally listing in order of preference.

By the end of the masterclass, they had narrowed the selection to three strong contenders:

Doyle said, "We want to amplify those unique Tasmanian Sparkling characteristics – the elegance and vibrancy, the crisp, pristine acidity, delicate lemon citrus and seaspray notes in our Chardonnays and the softer Turkish delight flavours in our Pinot Noir.

For sommeliers, "the theatre of the bead, coupled with practicality of service" was important while for winemakers, it was important to see "the aromas and flavours in a wine, remaining true to region and variety,” said Doyle.

These glasses will now undergo a final assessment to select the quintessential Tasmanian Sparkling Glass.

Riedel is renowned throughout the word for designing high quality glassware that is specifically designed to optimise the experience of the wine variety.

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