Advice on buying wine glasses

We bought a new beach house and am looking to stock up on wine glasses. Don't Need Riedel but want something decent....was thinking something like spiegelau. Any experience there or with other tier two names? Any advice for a good place to buy them online?

Lastly any thoughts on some plastic ones for beach cookouts,hanging on the deck etc

Thanks

[David M. Bueker]

Don't have any thoughts on beach glassware, but for the house I would get Schott-Zweisel. They are more expensive than Spiegelau, but more resistent to breakage. You know how those parties at the beach house go.

I'm a fan of the Schott Zwiesel glasses ("Tritan" titanium), much more durable (not unbreakable, but break resistant). (OK, David beat me to it_

For a while Crate and Barrel sold them under "Loire" line, individually abot $8, but don't see now.

I've ordered from Brentwood with good results

http://www.brentwoodwine.com/schott.html

Various places do free shipping occasionally.

Don't know anything about the acrylic ones (actually the SZ are durable I carry on picnics)

I have an assortment of sizes, but tend to find the ones in the 12-14 oz range (Chardonnay, Chianti, etc) the most versatile

John,
I've had good success with Fusion stemware from Wine Enthusiast - they sell a four pack for $40; not completely unbreakable but more break-resistant than Riedel.

[Jenise]

Once upon a time I decided all my glassware would be Spieglau but ultimately that was a bad decision--we recently threw all our remaining Spieglaus away. And that's because the glass is very porous and it etches easily, so the glass gets cloudy and holds onto rinse water making the glasses very spotty unless you hand-dry each one. YUCK. Much much MUCH prefer Riedel and Schott Zwiesel.

We had a chef here that ran a very successful restaurant called the Blue Strawberry in Portsmouth. In one of his books he recommended cookware: "Any pot without a hole in the bottom." I wouldn't go quite that far with wine glasses, but do believe you can something more than decent in any cookware store for $4-5 per stem.

I wouldn't go quite that far with wine glasses, but do believe you can something more than decent in any cookware store for $4-5 per stem.

Maybe in a pinch. But for something that I'm going to use regularly at home, it is surprising how many cooking shops (even the expensive ones) have horrible wine glasses that I wouldn't want to use on a regular basis.

I don't know if you have a Bed, Bath & Beyond near you, one with an upgrade crystal and china section, but I have found nice stems and pretty good prices, specially with their standard 20% off coupons. I just got some Spiegelau and some Nachtmann stems (owned by Riedel, if I'm not mistaken) from B,B&B.
BTW - when's the party and I'll need directions!

We bought a new beach house and am looking to stock up on wine glasses. Don't Need Riedel but want something decent....was thinking something like spiegelau. Any experience there or with other tier two names? Any advice for a good place to buy them online?

Lastly any thoughts on some plastic ones for beach cookouts,hanging on the deck etc

Thanks

John,
Amazon.com frequently has specials on some decent stems. I haven't looked in a while, but when they have the specials it a good buy.

Maybe in a pinch. But for something that I'm going to use regularly at home, it is surprising how many cooking shops (even the expensive ones) have horrible wine glasses that I wouldn't want to use on a regular basis.

In that case I won't even tell you what we use for everyday glasses!

Cheers, Carl

Maybe in a pinch. But for something that I'm going to use regularly at home, it is surprising how many cooking shops (even the expensive ones) have horrible wine glasses that I wouldn't want to use on a regular basis.

In that case I won't even tell you what we use for everyday glasses!

Cheers, Carl

I'm not terribly fancy myself. I use Riedel Vinums for the most part. Basic and clean. And no more expensive than some of the stuff you see in Williams and Sonoma or Sur La Table with thick rims, awkward openings, crazy ornamentation, etc.

Who uses glasses? I drink straight from the bottle.

We had a chef here that ran a very successful restaurant called the Blue Strawberry in Portsmouth. In one of his books he recommended cookware: "Any pot without a hole in the bottom." I wouldn't go quite that far with wine glasses, but do believe you can something more than decent in any cookware store for $4-5 per stem.

The Blue Strawberry run by Buddy Haller was indeed a wonderful restaurant in Portsmouth... one of the best I ever visited. I hadn't thought about it years. BTW if one is in Portsmouth these days I recommend a restaurant named Four. And Buddy did have a lot of interesting things to say. And I also agree on wine glasses, I have used everything from Reidel to ones purchased at Kmart. Yes, there is a difference but not so much as to justify the price of the top lines. I think with a little shopping around you will be able to do fine at around $5 a stem.

Best wishes,
Glenn

I'm a big fan of the wine glasses at Crate & Barrel. Quite a wide range from $4 to $10 or so per glass, most nicely made in Czech Republic, Slovakia or Poland (Krosno). Much better stuff than what one finds at some of the other big housewares chains.

The INAO-style wine glasses, available from many manufacturers (mine are from Schott), strike me as an excellent general-purpose design.

I've owned some of the expensive Riedel glasses, and I've found them frustratingly difficult to keep clean. I smashed the last ones I own while trying to rub spots off the glass, and pressing just that tad too hard....

No question that those premium glasses give you a tad better experience than the INAO standard tasting glass. But they're cussedly difficult to maintain. The INAO glasses are a lot sturdier, and IMO, better bang for the buck.

-Paul W.

Cost Plus

Who uses glasses? I drink straight from the bottle.

At least the small opening concentrates the aromas. Can I come watch at your next tasting?

I'm a big fan of the wine glasses at Crate & Barrel. Quite a wide range from $4 to $10 or so per glass, most nicely made in Czech Republic, Slovakia or Poland (Krosno). Much better stuff than what one finds at some of the other big housewares chains.

Thanks Joe. Will have to check out their store in Kittery next time we're over there. They do have some nice looking stuff on their web page.

Cheers, Carl

I am also a convert to / fan of Schott Zwiesel's Tritan stems (the Forte line). I've bought a total of 18 from BestWineGlasses.com for approx. $11 per stem with free shipping. As I recall, they have a better deal (more like $9 per stem) if you buy 6 reds and 6 whites together.

Maybe in a pinch. But for something that I'm going to use regularly at home, it is surprising how many cooking shops (even the expensive ones) have horrible wine glasses that I wouldn't want to use on a regular basis.

In that case I won't even tell you what we use for everyday glasses!

Cheers, Carl

I always search through the wine glasses at Dollar Tree. Most of their wine glasses are the heavy, Libby type, but sometimes they have decent stems with flaws. If you look them over close, some have only very minor flaws, such as a bubble in the stem. But, hey, for $1.00 each? I have a nice set of bubbly flutes from there.