If layers of cutlery as neatly ordered as a set of Russian dolls have disappeared from all but the smartest restaurants, at least we have an abiding memory of them. Glass etiquette, on the other hand, is completely out of fashion.
At home it's just as bad. Even if you never cook, it is mandatory to have a kitchen kitted out with more chrome gadgets than the US space shuttle. (A friend of mine with a not uncommon affection for shiny stainless-steel knives confessed that he had considered laying his microwave lasagne on his unused chopping board and slicing them with the biggest of his machete-like implements, just to give the cleaver a workout.) But, though most of us spend virtually every waking hour of our home lives clutching a glass of something, glassware is taken less seriously.
A chipped assortment of tumblers (spirits) and goblets (wine) is about all most of us can run to. In the eyes of the Riedel family, who have been making glassware in central Europe for nearly 250 years, we are not doing justice to the wines we drink.
This is not a matter of snobbery. In the 1950s, Claus Josef, a ninth-generation Riedel, began to take into account the function as well as aesthetic form of the glasses he designed. The use of different - and often elaborately fashioned - glasses for different drinks was not new. But Claus Riedel and, later, his son Georg were purists. The two conducted extensive and exhaustive tasting exercises to discover how the shape of the glass affected the impact that particular types of wine made on the nose and palate.
They found that a glass with a huge bowl was flattering to the best clarets - the Riedel red Bordeaux grand cru glass, designed in 1959, has a capacity of 30oz. They noted that young Bordeaux served in small glasses could taste "one-dimensional, tannic and over-oaked". The larger glass enables the different flavours to unravel, and is also suited to Rioja and Brunello di Montalcino as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varietals. If you are thinking of updating your glasses and drink lots of red, this shape is a good bet - buying even one of each of Riedel's dozens of designs would cost a small fortune.
For red Burgundy (and also Barbera, Barolo and Gamay) a balloon-like glass that allows the aromas to escape the wine, but holds them inside the glass so the nose can enjoy them, is preferred.
A Beaujolais Nouveau benefits from a much stumpier and smaller bowl, whereas Chianti made from the Sangiovese grape is best savoured from an elongated tulip shape. For Provencal rose, Riedel has a smallish glass that swells at the bottom of the bowl, nips in towards the top and tilts out at the brim. This, the firm says, is so that the wine flowing out of the glass will be directed on to the tip of the tongue, allowing its fresh red-berry fruitiness to be best appreciated.
As for champagne, Riedel does make the coupe glass - that's the one so often likened (and usually by lusty men with greying cheeks) to a woman's breast - but the company points out that this was originally developed with a sweet, dessert-style champagne in mind. For dry champagne, Riedel recommends the flute and notes that, without it, we miss out on the fine aromas of the wine, which disappear into the air. Not only the aromas but also the fizz.
And - if you've drunk a glass or two already of the wine itself - I've always found the balance of those coupe glasses very difficult to manage. The champagne always wants to swill to one side and over the edge. It's a relief to know that Riedel also has a general-purpose receptacle - the so-called "gourmet glass" - with a short stem and the hallmark "thin polished rim".
Once you've got that, all you need is a case of good wine.
