Image pinched from Williams-Sonoma
I’m not sure about the kind of people Jennifer has coming round to her Entertain MeMe meme. Whenever I get wind of a band of firneds/strangers coming round I lie awake at night dreaming of the sound of smashing glass. There again I tend to mix with journalists and Australians, so anything can happen.
Long stemmed crystal, or just plain, wine glasses tip, crash and smash. White carpets are spreckled red and I’m forced to waste premium vodka to wash out the stains from some vamps leopard skin silk blouse.
The obvious choice of plastic cups is naff and certainly doesn’t compliment wine, beer or more exotic concoctions. The standard tumbler doesn’t quite do it for wine.
But there is a stylish option that covers all bases. It’s great for wine or cocktails (not sure about beer) and looks really cool. It is robust and has no stem so is unlikely to keel over.
Yes, we have the Riedel Wine Tumblers, available at Williams-Sonoma, so Rebecca can spend her Amex voucher. One of the coolest restaurants near us uses them for Asian inspired cocktails as well as wine. Hell, I’m going to go out and buy 30 of the things. Personally, I reckon the Syrah has the best shape. US$28 for two.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been seeing these more and more often. I always thought they were a bit trendy but now that you have pointed out how practical they were I might have to rethink them.
Thanks Ed!
Sorry to say, but they are a trend. When using stemless glasses, go for the rustic version found in France and Switzerland. Elegant wine-glasses with fingerprints have never been and will never be very attractive. But Riedel seems to have a good marketing department, because they make people believe they have to spent even more money on their products
Peter, you are right that the Riedel concept of a different glass for every wine is a rip off and pretty stupid and a very expensive past time. They are for investment bankers (think rhyming slang). I’ve never seen the versions of these glasses in France and Switzerland but am going to look out for them. I’m always in fro a bargain. Thanks for the tip
While the O series are not my preferred everyday wine glasses (fingerprints, heat transfer to the bowl etc), I’m going to get a set for when I go to restaurants with fellow wine geeks – they are much easier to transport due to the smaller size and much less likely to be involved in an accident as the night wears on. They are even cheap enough that I won’t really mind putting them in the dishwasher.
Yeah, Jackie keeps going on about heat transfer to the bowl. Are the finger prints really that bad?
Fingerprints don’t bother me that much, obviously it is the contents of the glass that really matters, I do like to look at the wine and watch it shimmer as I swirl it around, fingerprints do take away from that part of the sensory experience somewhat – but I think the overall benefits outweigh the costs.