Berry Bros. and Rudd

Berry Bros. & Rudd, the world’s oldest wine and spirits merchant have just launched a whole new range of premium glassware to further appreciate the pleasure of wine. The new range of seven hand-made glasses have been designed by John Jenkins & Sons with the help of Berry’s five Masters of Wine who ensured they look most elegant on the table and deliver wine to the palate of the consumer with complete perfection and in a way that maximises its enjoyment.

The range, named ‘The Wine Merchant’s Glasses’, is the second range of glasses produced by Berry’s, the first produced in 1931.Chairman of Berry Bros. & Rudd, Simon Berry, repeats the thoughts of his grandfather Francis Berry who strongly believed that it is possible to enhance the pleasure of wine using high quality glassware instead of buying more expensive bottles.

Francis Berry was known as a connoisseur of glass as much as of wine. After his death in 1936 his exquisite, extensive and unique collection of glassware which dated from Ancient Greece to the Nineteenth Century ended up exhibited in the British Museum, the Fitzwilliam and the Vintners’ Company. His obituary was written by a great friend of his, André Simon, who spoke beautifully of his ‘passion for collecting beautiful and rare glasses.’

However, glass was not just a beautiful object to collect dust on a shelf, it needed to be used, and its main purpose was to truly enhance the enjoyment of wine. As André Simon also pointed out, Francis Berry was ‘the most admirable host imaginable, giving his guests the finest wines… in the finest possible glasses.’ His belief was ‘twenty per cent of the enjoyment of wine comes from the glass it is drunk from.’ His collection of glasses was not for decoration but for actual consumption and appreciation of wine.

The new range, having launched on 7th September, are sold in pairs and comprises: The Red Bordeaux Glass, The White Bordeaux Glass, The Champagne Glass, The Red Burgundy Glass, The White Burgundy Glass, The Port & Sauternes Glass, and The Whisky & Water Glass. The new glasses have been designed with keeping in view the weight of the glass and the ability to swirl them that allows for the aromas of the wine to be released!