George Riedel tonight at the American Restaurant

Among wine connoisseurs — the kind of people who drop more than $50 on a bottle of wine not because it costs a lot but because it’s good — drinking out of normal wineglasses just won’t do.

As most casual drinkers are aware, white wine is usually poured into a cylindrical glass, whereas red wine needs a rounder vessel. (Quick wineglass breakdown: The larger the mouth, the more air in the glass and the more the wine oxidizes. For reds, oxidizing is good; whites, not so much. Champagne goes flat fast, which is why you serve it in thin flutes and never swirl it.)

But for true wine lovers, those two style of glasses are just the start. There are special glasses for chardonnays and pinot noirs and for regions such as Burgundy and Bordeaux. The undisputed master at all things glass and wine is Riedel Crystal, which, after 11 generations, is still run by the Riedel family. George Riedel will be at a benefit for the James Beard Foundation at the American Restaurant tonight.

The tasting is an expensive $129 a person, but the price includes three glasses from Riedel’s sommelier series — Burgundy grand cru glass, Bordeaux grand cru and a Montrachet Glass — the retail value of which is $327. It’s like they’re paying you $200 to attend!

The reception begins at 6:15 p.m. and the tasting at 7 p.m. Reservations are required; call 816-545-8001.