Denver Cramer – designer, entrepreneur and creator of what’s arguably the world’s most functional wine glass – insists he’s not your “typical” wine guy. In fact, he says at first glance, most people wouldn’t know he was in the business of high-end wine at all.

As the owner and co-founder of Melbourne-based glassware brand Denver & Liely, Denver is simply focussed on creating quality, considered designs that enhance the experience of drinking wine, beer and spirits and deliver the most precise taste and smell profile possible.

Now, he’s taken that a step further with a groundbreaking new wine glass design, which experts say can emulate the effect of ageing a wine by up to four years.

Toasting new beginnings

Since its launch 10 years ago, Denver & Liely has become an iconic glassware brand around the globe – with notable customers like Ryan Reynolds – but their origin story is more down-to-earth.

The business was originally conceived by Denver and his good friend Liely Faulkner one evening while drinking whisky. They wanted to design a bespoke whisky glass as a Christmas gift for their family and friends. To them, it seemed an easier option than having to confront chaotic shopping centre carparks during the festive season. 

In the clear light of day, Denver couldn’t shake the idea, and the pair – both with industrial design backgrounds – began to craft a glass to maximise the taste and aroma of whisky.

“We put so much design and engineering time into it because it was for love, for family and friends – it wasn’t for money,” Denver says. 

With an initial production run of 100 units, Denver and Liely planned to take 35 each for Christmas gifts and sell the remaining 30. 

Unfortunately for their family and friends, a little publicity and a rookie error when setting up their website meant their entire inventory sold out in a single morning. 

“I had to call Liely and destroy Christmas for him – there were no presents left,” Denver laughs.

The Denver & Liely difference

10 years later, Denver & Liely products are still highly sought after. Known for their impeccable quality and functionality, every piece of glassware is engineered with genuine love and to the highest possible specifications: hand-blown, hand-cut and from lead-free crystal. 

“We put time into the research and the development of all our products,” Denver says. 

“A key part of our business is working with the rest of the industry. We ask beer, wine and spirit-makers what they want their drinks to smell and taste like, then craft a glass that represents the truest form of what they want their customers to experience.”

The Denver & Liely range includes their premier Whisky Glass, which was hailed by Forbes as one of the best on the market; a Gin Glass with a never-before-seen shape purpose-made for gin and gin-based cocktails; a Bourbon Glass that was dubbed ‘Best Bourbon Glass’ by the Robb Report; an Agave Glass created to amplify the flavours of mezcal and tequila; and a stemmed Beer Glass designed to keep beer colder for longer and promote re-carbonation for a richer drinking experience. But it’s their latest creation that has truly stunned experts.

Ageing fine wine

With a vision to streamline the aeration and decantation process of a wine, Denver developed the new Denver & Liely Wine Glass in consultation with renowned wine houses and winemakers around the world. As with all Denver & Liely creations, this immersive, collaborative design process was essential to realise Denver’s exacting vision – and it took eight years to deliver the final product. 

“I don’t care what things look like, I care if they work,” Denver says. “Sometimes it’s just a waiting game, being patient and working out how to do something in a new way – and that was the case with this glass.”

While the look of the glass wasn’t his primary focus, it certainly is an eye-catching design. Inspired by a jet turbine and the iconic Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR wheel, it features a raised hub at the base of its bowl, encircled by a unique fin design. In addition to creating visual intrigue, this serves an important function.

“The hub helps decantation happen in the glass, while the fins allow you to control how much aeration you want, depending on your wine,” Denver says. 

“Swirl clockwise for a very light agitation in older vintages, or anticlockwise for a hard aeration in younger wines.”

If praise from some of the world’s top winemakers is any indication of how well the glass works, artisans in France say it can actually “age” wine. 

“The Denver & Liely Wine Glass creates a more profound taste and more harmony by integrating tannins. It can make a wine taste like it’s aged another four or five years,” says Count Stephan Graf von Neipperg of Bordeaux’s famed Vignobles Comtes von Neipperg.

“It’s like a time machine,” adds Vincent Lignac of Château Guadet. “It opens the wine up much more and much faster.”

“It blew me away when I first heard that,” Denver says. “Then a few more people said it, and I was like, ‘wow’. 

“It was not intentional to create a time machine – I was just trying to make the best possible wine experience more accessible to more people.”

For Denver, there is still more to be done; he is constantly tinkering with different concepts and thinking about new ways of doing things. 

“I’m going to have a look at rum and coffee,” he says. “And after that, maybe a champagne glass.”