Stemless Wine Glasses

Stemless wine glasses - are they for real? It seems that all industries go through a re-inventing stage. They try to come up with new hip and cool merchandise to become THE next popular best selling item. Riedel, the most popular crystal wine stem producer in the world, did just that recently with their addition of the new "O" series glasses. It's their take on a wine tumbler. Or actually, Maximilian Riedel's take on the tumbler. He is the 11th generation 30-year old President of North America Riedel, and this is his brain child and first line of glasses that he has introduced. According to them, "O" is the ideal glass for every day use and for every occasion. It is fun, feels good to hold, looks trendy and it works!" But is it that simple? Is there anyone else doing this?

Historically speaking, wine tumblers, as stemless wine glasses are often called, are not a newcomer to the wine-drinking scene. In fact, they've been around for a long time. In Italy, for example, wine tumblers are more the norm than regular "stemmed" wine glasses. If you go to a restaurant in Umbria and order some great local food at the near ristorante, wine will be at the table with tumblers. It's the Italian way! So these “stemless” glasses may be new for us in America, but they've been around for a while. So far Riedel is the only one to introduce these high-end wine tumblers to the market. Other stemware producers are doing a wait-see before they jump into this market (which may be too late by the time they do, we'll see).

So, why not use a regular tumbler for wine instead of spending more money on a wine tumbler you ask? Well, the simple answer is you're still buying a high-end wine glass, just without the stem. Riedel, like other premium wine "glass" producers, are made from crystal. They are lighter, thinner, and offer more aromas from the wine (crystal agitates the wine more when you swirl it, thus releasing the aromas better). The tumblers come in different sizes and shapes for different wine--like the other Riedel brands--just not as many choices. That may change depending on how popular this line is in the long-term. The initial sales of these things were unbelievable. Stores could not keep any in stock, people were selling them on eBay, the new chic restaurants were using these instead of regular "boring" glasses...in short, they were a hit. They are still selling well today, but the initial demand has simmered down a bit. So, are these stemless wine glasses for you? Let's see.

First off, you have to admit that these things are cool looking, aren't they? They are totally foreign to us who are used to holding our wine by the stem. We love different, new, "cutting edge." These glasses, for us, are just that. On top of this, they are not as fragile as their sister "stemmed" glasses. When washing them in the sink, there are no worries about breaking the stem (raise your hand, we've all done this). If you knock it over it doesn't have as far to go before it hits the table, so breakage is not as high for these puppies. Last but not least:You can fit these into any standard sized cupboard. My Riedel and Spiegelau Bordeaux glasses, sadly, cannot.

But, not everything comes up roses with these new tumblers. If you're a serious wine drinker somewhere along the line someone told you (or yelled at you) to NEVER HOLD THE GLASS BY THE BOWL! How gauche, they said. "It's simply not done!" they say. Reason 1) It affects the temperature of the wine...your hand transfers heat to the bowl, and thus to the wine. Reason 2) It smudges the glass and makes it look scummy and loaded with fingerprints. For the true connoisseur they would say that this hinders the evaluation process of the wine...visually you cannot see it in its purest form. So, obviously if you buy a set of these things you can't help but not hold it by the bowl, unless you get a straw (but we just won't go there).

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I'll be honest; I own a set of these. I don't use them for my everyday wine glass because I've gotten too used to having a stem, and I'm a creature of habit. I have used them, and they are fun! I tend to use them for red wine rather than whites because my hands warm the wine too quickly by holding the bowl. And for the true wine aficionados out there, yes it does smudge the glass, but come on... you can still look at the wine inside. Besides, if you wanted to evaluate a treasure from your wine cellar like an old Bordeaux or Burgundy, chances are you wouldn't use a wine tumbler to do that anyway.

Tumblers are a fun new edition to the American wine market. They are not for everyone, but if you are curious to see if they are for you, buy a set (usually come in 2) and try them out. If you like them, buy more. If you don't, well...I'm sure your orange juice never had such good aromatics.

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