Putting stemware to the test
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It’s not often I retrieve a box from UPS on the doorstep, open it, and dump the contents in the sink. But that’s what I did the other day.
Fortunately it wasn’t wine. Instead it was crystal. Eegad–had I lost all sense with too much Sancerre? No, I was actually trying out some glasses that I purchased called Tritan Forte made by Schott Zwiesel. They claim to be unbreakable, or at least “impact-resistant.”
Granted, I didn’t want to have crystal shards flying around the kitchen so I somewhat wimped out and let one glass fall two or three inches–a height that would have shattered many stems. But this Forte was indeed tres forte and it didn’t even crack thanks to a lead-free crystal that has titanium in it. The best news may have been the price–eight stems for $60 from Wine Enthusiast catalogue (IWA via Amazon has a wider selection). A deep bowl and tapered top makes it sleek, elegant as well as functional.
We decided to put several stems to the test. Heck, now that even Target has a line of Riedel crystal stemware, high quality wine glasses appear poised to be the hot gift for the holidays this year. So we lined up some other contenders for the Forte: Riedel O, Riedel Vinum, and Bottega del Vino. Here at the Dr. Vino world headquarters, we enjoyed the excellent Chateau Cesseras, AOC Minervois La Liviniere, 2001. I’m not sure of the price since it was a gift from a friend who brought it back from the south of France but the wine has an excellent balance, with wonderful aromatics and southern French jamminess.
Starting with the biggest glass, I recently received a press sample of the Bottega del Vino Rosso Burgunder ($48 per stem). Wow. It is the Cadillac Escalade of wine glasses, sparkling and towering over the others. One friend who is 6’7″ loved it christening it “le chalice.”
While I would definitely agree that it is impressive to look at and puts whoever holds it way at the top in the game of ostentatious one-upmanship, I’m not convinced that it’s the best vessel, particularly for everyday use. I found that the aromas dissipated too easily, thanks to the flared rim on the glass. And it looks so brittle that an enthusiastic clinking of glasses during a toast might bring more than good wishes raining down on your companion.
The squat Riedel “O” glass ($19 for 2) looks like a Weeble Wobble for grown-ups. The aromas were better concentrated in this glass than in the Bottega. But without a stem, I got goobery fingerprints all over the bowl and the wine started to warm up in the glass since there was no stem to hold. This glass is not good for cocktail parties therefore–try it while seated at the table if at all to avoid warming up the wine.
The Riedel Vinum Zin/Riesling glass that I use as a frequent red-white crossover vessel in this case provided the excellent results and was the runner up. Not as big a bowl as the other three but it captured the aromas and was goober-free. At $38 for 4 on Amazon, the price was comparable to the Tritan Forte. However, since I have (dangerously) broken many a Riedel stem while hand washing, the Tritan Forte edges it out for apparent durability. It’s an excellent glass for everyday use around the house that doubles as a great gift. I’ll drink to that.
Technorati tags: food & drink | wine gifts | wine
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On November 16th, 2005 at 8:21 pm ,Jack wrote:
The Tritan stemware - I have bought the Top 10 series, available from Brentwood Wine, has passed my tests. Two drops; once to the wood floor, once into the stainless sink (that has NEVER failed to break a Riedel). No damage.
On December 16th, 2005 at 2:33 pm ,Anonymous wrote:
You can get some very durable glass barware at Pier 1 for $2 per glass (on sale for $1.60, when I bought mine the other day) in a pretty wide variety of shapes and heights. That’s for the value crowd whose friends are awed by the mere presence of wine and don’t need to be bludgeoned with a crystal chalice, to boot.
On December 23rd, 2005 at 10:42 am ,Anonymous wrote:
I first saw the Tritan titanium glasses this spring - someone brought a few to a wine tasting and shocked everyone by bashing the glass against the bottle. No breakage.
For your testing, which model of Forte glasses did you try? It seems like different stores have them labled differently. I would love to find a glass in the Forte lineup that compares to the Riedel Vinum Extreme Bordeaux but so far haven’t found one - I think the “Claret” glass at Brentwood looks the closest but any local stores only have the “Hearty Red” it seems.
On June 12th, 2007 at 8:38 am ,Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » What do wine geeks want for Father’s Day? wrote:
[...] Riedel wine glasses. I break far more than my fair share. :)” [Hmm, maybe Josh should try the impact resistant glasses? -Dr. [...]
On June 19th, 2007 at 10:56 am ,Erika Strum wrote:
Thanks for the link love. The Tritan stemware really is wonderful.
On November 11th, 2007 at 11:18 pm ,Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Rent or buy: wine glasses for parties wrote:
[...] Whoa! Talk about a buzzkill cleaning several dozen glasses! I’ve had good luck with the Tritan Forte, which can be found for under $10 a stem, goes in the dishwasher, and is impact resistant (note: [...]
On March 14th, 2008 at 6:08 am ,YuzeroK wrote:
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On July 17th, 2008 at 6:00 pm ,Roger Doull wrote:
Has anyone tried the Eisch Glaskulter wine glass, that they are calling their Breathable Glass. We had three customers independently respond very positively after a blind taste test.
Roger