Wine Glasses

[sachertorte]

My husband is a budding wine aficionado. I would like to buy him some nice wine glasses. He bought a boatload of Pinot Noir from Oregon recently so I have been looking at Pinot Noir (Burgundy) glasses for him.

Is 50 bucks for 2 glasses typical? Worth it?

What's the deal with California Prop 65? Am I going to poison my husband if I get him glasses that have lead in them?

Dear Winos of the SDMB,
Tell me of your wine glasses and whether or not you have been poisoned by lead.

[Dr. Righteous]

A lot of it depends on the amount of storage space you have and how much money you have. There are glasses designed for every type of wine, but most people start out with generic ones... and most people stop there. I don't know anyone personally who had different Burgundy and Bordeaux glasses, although they certainly do exist.

I don't have lots of room so I have one set of red glasses and one set of white. If you drink dessert wines you might want a set for those, same goes for champagne flutes.

I like my glasses to be on the thin side but not so fragile that I fear using them, and I don't mind hand washing them. I also have some cheaper ones I use for parties, so if they get broken I won't care so much.

I'll also note I hate those stemless ones. I don't want the warmth of my hand to alter the temperature of the wine and I find it hard to swirl wine in those. I got a set of them as a gift and I use them to sip bourbon from.

[silenus]

1. Don't sweat the lead warning. You'll die of many other alcohol-related things before you even notice any lead leaching out of the crystal.
2. Agree on the stemless hate. We have a very expensive pair of those, and every time we use them I feel like the glass is going to slip out of my hand with every sip.
3. My favorite glasses are ones we got while touring wineries in the Santa Ynez Valley. Decent size (each holds half a bottle), decent heft, stemmed, and we have them for red only, because no other color wine will darken our doorway. Must be a dozen or more on the shelves.
4. Water goblets make excellent wine glasses.

[longhair75]

I pick my wine glasses up at estate sales. My favorite is a Waterford Lismore Claret glass I picked up for a dollar.

[Gray Ghost]

Agreed with the previous posters that lead is not a big deal. For spirits decanters, it can be a big deal, but for glasses, I wouldn't worry about it.

While I think that Riedel's shtick of a different glass for every variety is a load of hooey, I do like separate glasses for Pinot Noir and other extremely aromatic reds versus less aromatic reds like Cabernet and Merlot. The large balloon type enhances the aroma for me. I like a thin lip, but it like everything else I think is really just personal preference. I don't care for very long stems, but I agree with Silenus's dislike for stemless wine glasses.

Which ones to get? I have some Riedel, and I like them, but I do think they are overpriced, and they have a rep for being more fragile than other similar glasses. Most wine geeks I knew had a story of how they broke a Riedel Vinum stem by looking at it cross-eyed. I've had great results with Spiegelau or Schott-Zweisel stems. I've not tried the Waterford or Lenox versions. The Spiegelau's in particular were a bit more tolerant of rough handling, IME. Whichever you choose, hand-wash them and dry with a lint-free towel and you should be good to go.

Longhair75 has great advice about estate sales. Thrift stores can be good too. Picked up both of my Sommelier Bordeaux stems that way. Amazon occasionally runs sales on stemware. TJ Maxx, et al, are also decent places to look for discount stems. If you can find a restaurant going out of business sale, you might find some decent inexpensive glasses that way.

Edit: On price, I think you can do better than $25 a stem. First, you'll probably want at least 4, maybe 6. IMHO, wine is for sharing with friends and it's hard to share if they don't have glasses. These stems from Spiegelau at Amazon are $11-12 each and are IMHO, perfectly acceptable for Pinot Noir. (Happy drinking. Love Oregon Pinots.)

[cjepson]

50 bucks for 2 wine glasses sounds a bit over the top to me. If I paid that much for wine glasses, I'd be scared shitless to use them.

[Athena]

I've got several of the high-end Riedels, and they're a joy to drink from, but a pain to wash, and (as others have pointed out) incredibly fragile. I wouldn't go with those unless he specifically wants them.

Agree with the hate on the stemless glasses.

Really, I wouldn't worry so much about the brand as I would the shape and size. Standard wine glasses tend to be too small; you want BIG glasses so you can swirl and smell. This set illustrates a good shape for red & white glasses. Pinot Noir specific glasses are shaped more like this. With those 3 shapes, you very nicely cover almost all wine types. Heck, even just choosing one of the red shapes is fine. (I've linked Riedel cuz those are what I found first. As I said above, shape is the important part - get whatever brand you like).

Oh, and don't get colored glasses or glasses with fancy designs. I don't even like cut glass for wine (like Waterford). You want to see the wine, not the glass. And that, I think, is why people get giddy over the fragile-as-all-hell Riedels; they are so light that they almost disappear.

Most wine geeks I knew had a story of how they broke a Riedel Vinum stem by looking at it cross-eyed.

You think the Vinums are bad? I've broken the Sommeliers just by THINKING about them.

[sachertorte]

Thanks so much for the replies. Sometimes the hardest part about shopping is not knowing what to look for. I had seen Riedel in my search (expensive!), but didn't know about Spiegelau or Schott-Zweisel. Simply knowing they exist and don't suck is a huge help. And I will avoid the stemless.

I agree with the idea that wine is for sharing, but I'm lacking acetaldehyde dehydrogenase so I don't drink wine (or any alcohol). I think I might get Spiegelau Burgundy. The price is nice, and my husband is a bit clumsy so a very expensive, very fragile glass is probably not the best for him.

On Preview: Thanks to Athena for the Amazon link to a pair of Riedel Pinot Noir glasses that aren't obscenely expensive. I might get that for him for when we aren't entertaining.

[sachertorte]

Ha. With Grey Ghost's edit and Athena's link too, I'm all set. You've all done my shopping for me. And free shipping to boot that should get here by Christmas.

Yay!

[aruvqan]

LOL I have a wonderful buddy that really enjoys wine, but has the magical ability to break stemware by doing nothing but letting them sit on a table. We bought him a case of these back when I worked for US Foodservice and could get them at price. I have seen these bounce off a hardwood floor when dropped from standing waist height

[I myself have antique german crystal from the 1830s, family crap. We don't throw anything away, my silver and limoges for 16 is also from the same ancestor.]

[Dr. Righteous]

Originally Posted by Athena

Oh, and don't get colored glasses or glasses with fancy designs.

I know the OP is already set with what they need, but I just needed to add: YES, THIS TOO. I got gifted a set of 4 wine glasses where the stem was clear but the bell was dark red, and almost a perfect ball shape. Horrid.

My Riedels were a gift too (I see a pattern here) and I now feel lucky I've only broken one of them. Maybe when the time comes to buy more I'll give those Spiegelau a go.