My favorite wine glasses: Motel plastic cups. What's yours?

[JimHow]

What is your favorite wine glass?
I drank a 2009 d'Armailhac at a fancy midtown hotel during this pandemic, but they had only those plastic cups that you normally get at Motel 6, that are individually wrapped in plastic.
You know the ones I'm talking about, with the ridges.
It was tremendous.
Maybe it's because of all the BWE hotel room events over the years, but I find that my fine Bordeauxs taste better in those simple plastic cups than in even the finest of Riedels.
Nicola and I finished off a 1996 Pontet Canet a couple years ago in a DC hotel room from similar "stemware," it was the best showing yet for that wine.
The purple of these fine northern Medocs seems especially inviting in these cups, and the bouquet is enhanced beautifully.

What is your favorite stemware?

[Racer Chris]

I ran out of Gabriel Glass Standarts recently, so my go to glass is now a Grassl tasting glass. I have a couple of Grassl 1855s for special wines.

[Dandersson]

I like my Riedel glasses for nicer wines. I feel it makes a difference from other wine glasses that I have.

[JimHow]

I had a lot of AmEx Amazon points accumulated so I bought a couple of those big Riedel Sommelier Bordeaux glasses, the ones that break when you look at them. They are beauties! I've had them about three months now and neither has broken. My go-to is the Riedel Vinum Bordeaux series, that's a quality glass, I've got about 30 of them.

[stefan]

We use the Vino Grande series from Spiegelau. They are not as fragile as Riedel glasses, even those made after Riedel purchased Spiegelau, although we do break quite a few each year.

[Comte Flaneur]

At the risk of being labelled a Wine Glass Wanker: Zalto - but they do break rather too easily and frequently.

[William P]

I like Schott Zwiesel. Presently I'm using the Pure, Cabernet stem. I also have their Pinot and Bordeaux stems but they're from other lines. I like them because I have two doodles who have been prone to sweeping their tails across the coffee table thus terminating fragile glasses.

[jal]

Grassl Liberté or Zalto Universal. I love drinking out of these glasses, but they're not cheap, figure $50-60 a stem. I got a few on Berserkers Day but skipped the Cyber Monday sale.

[jckba]

I use Riedel Vinums pretty much exclusively.

[AKR]

When I travel I take these plastic glasses that have the same geometry as Riedel Vinum's, I got a six pack for $10 from Cost Plus World Market some years ago. They are very hard to break/bend, as long as you don't put them in a dishwasher. Some hazing will occur over time. I've been using them a lot and recommend them for travelers, a bit of an upgrade over plastic Motel cups that come in wrappers!

[Claudius2]

Like others I have a cabinet with a range of Riedel glasses for various wine types.
If there are more people here, I also have Zeiss glasses.

[DavidG]

I like the Zalto Universal and Bordeaux. If lazy or worried I’ll be careless cleaning them I’ll pull out a sturdier Riedel Vinum. Bordeaux.

[RPCV]

I am still in love with the Gabriel Glas Stand Art series. Versatile, elegant and durable.

[Racer Chris]

I just bought myself an early Christmas present - 2 GG StandArt glasses.

[JimHow]

This is nuts, I'm getting adds all over my computer now for plastic cups.

[Jay Winton]

Riedel Vinum Bordeaux and Burgundy and they survive an occasional trip through the dishwasher. Jim, this site is not secure so I imagine bots can scan it easily (right now it's a Google bot). I may be totally wrong though.

[JoelD]

I just bought myself an early Christmas present - 2 GG StandArt glasses.

Chris, I ended up really liking these. Thanks for the recommendation.

Have you tried the gold edition? Tempting. They sound exactly the same, just lighter, similar to zalto.

I'm clearly the glass whore of this site:

Zalto BDX- Any top Bordeaux, especially with age, older cabs etc.
Riedel VE Cab- Younger Bordeaux, Cabs, Rhone, white burg
Zalto Burg- Burgundy with some age, Old Barolo
Reidel Somm Burg- Young Burgundy, Port, young Barolo
Reidel VE chard/pinot- white burg, Oregon pinot, Gamay.
Gabriel Glass SA- Champagne, Riesling, Desert wines, any dry white that isn't chardonnay

[Racer Chris]

Have you tried the gold edition? Tempting. They sound exactly the same, just lighter, similar to zalto.

Huge price difference to get the handblown version.
I've never had one of the Golds in my hand. I bought the Grassl 1855s on Berserkerday to fill the ultra light glass category. The Grassl tasting glasses are quite light as well, and force me to take smaller pours - good for weeknights.
The only high end still wines I drink are Bordeaux so I don't need any other glasses. I think $30 is a lot for a wine glass but my wife has a nice little collection of champagne flutes in pairs that cost upwards of $125 a pair.

[JCNorthway]

I use Riedel Vinums - both Bordeaux and Burgundy styles. I can't bring myself to spend the $$ for the Somm series - I've seen how easily they break.

[s*d*r]

Zalto Universal.

I treat them tenderly and only break maybe one or two per year even though I brought them to restaurants back when restaurants were a thing.

A friend bought those Riedel Sommelier glasses “on release” many years ago but only displays them in a glass cabinet as museum pieces or for when he needs somewhere put his goldfish.

Stu

[Blanquito]

My favorite stems are the Zalto Bordeaux for nearly all reds, the Gabriel Glas Gold for whites, Zalto White for bubblies and desserts (it’s too small for whites but perfect for fizz and small-pour stickies). I love Zalto, they quickly made nearly all my other stems obsolete (including 2 Riedel Sommelier Bordeaux stems which seem comically clumsy to me now).

When I was in Austria in April 2018, I noticed Zalto stems were ~$35 there instead of $65-$70 here, so I bought 4 of the Bordeauxs and 1 of the Whites and a huge Zalto decanter, and hand-carried them all back. Not one has broken yet, and I take these to all of my offlines. I only wash by hand, but so far so good.

[JoelD]

My favorite stems are the Zalto Bordeaux for nearly all reds, the Gabriel Glas Gold for whites, Zalto White for bubblies and desserts (it’s too small for whites but perfect for fizz and small-pour stickies). I love Zalto, they quickly made nearly all my other stems obsolete (including 2 Riedel Sommelier Bordeaux stems which seem comically clumsy to me now).

When I was in Austria in April 2018, I noticed Zalto stems were ~$35 there instead of $65-$70 here, so I bought 4 of the Bordeauxs and 1 of the Whites and a huge Zalto decanter, and hand-carried them all back. Not one has broken yet, and I take these to all of my offlines. I only wash by hand, but so far so good.

Sounds like we have similar tastes in wine glasses Patrick. Are the GG gold worth the 130% price increase over the regular?

Also how about the Zalto decanter? Which one do you have? What do you notice with how good/worth it that is over more standard decanters?

[JimHow]

I use Riedel Vinums - both Bordeaux and Burgundy styles.

Sounds like you and I have similar tastes in wine glasses, Jon, how do you find those Burgundy vinum series Riedel glasses? I’ve got about a dozen of them but I rarely use them, I pretty much use the Riedel Bordeaux vinum glasses for everything, including Burgundy, Italy, etc.

Lately I’ve been using my sommelier glasses, they are nice. I just very carefully hand wash them the next morning. They are so big that I can barely avoid the faucet when washing them in the sink.

[Blanquito]

Good questions, Joel.

To be honest, the large Zalto decanter was a pure indulgence purchase, snatched up in Vienna when buying the stems. I don’t think functionally it really is any better than a $35 decanter on Amazon, but it was just so beautiful I had to have it, especially at half-off what they cost in the USA..

I don’t love the regular Gabriel stems compared to the Golds, but I got the Golds on-sale from Chris Freemont (on Beseresekers) for $35 — they are definitely worth that tariff.

It’s funny how divergent serious wine lovers can be about stems — I know some hardcore wine lovers who think fancy, expensive stems are silly and far too breakage-prone to justify. From my standpoint, if we are willing to spend $100 or $150 on a single bottle of wine, of course you should have the best stems possible and Zaltos make my wine taste better (for me).

[JCNorthway]

Jim, I use the Vinum Burgundy glasses for wines that, in my experience, have a more delicate aroma profile - mostly Burgs, Oregon Pinots, and Nebbiolo based wines. I don't have any real data to prove a difference, but I think that glass releases the aroma more fully.

I just very carefully hand wash them the next morning.

I started doing that with my Vinums after I realized that a lot more glasses broke late at night than in the morning . . .

[JoelD]

I don’t love the regular Gabriel stems compared to the Golds, but I got the Golds on-sale from Chris Freemont (on Beseresekers) for $35 — they are definitely worth that tariff.

It’s funny how divergent serious wine lovers can be about stems — I know some hardcore wine lovers who think fancy, expensive stems are silly and far too breakage-prone to justify. From my standpoint, if we are willing to spend $100 or $150 on a single bottle of wine, of course you should have the best stems possible and Zaltos make my wine taste better (for me).

Interesting, you wouldn't happen to have contact info on how to get more of those GG Gold's would you? I haven't been on berserkers much.

I couldn't agree more. I don't go crazy. I only have one glass each of most of these glasses, unless they come in 2 packs. I also generally get them on sale or discounted somehow. My next purchase from a really good recommendation, at full price will be the Conterno Sensory Glass. Designed by Roberto, made by Schott Zweisel I believe. I'll likely pay the full $89 retail and just call it a day. It is supposed to be the best for tasting any Barolo or Burgundy.

[Racer Chris]

Chris Freemott no longer sells Gabriel Glass. Grassl Glass is his new company.
I think someone else offered a small discount on Gabriel stems last year on Berserkerday but nothing like the deal Chris put up a few years ago.
Right now the deal on Amazon is 2 packs of GGG for $142, and 6 packs of Standart are $187.50 (2 packs are $62.50)

[dstgolf]

Like Jim and Jon our go to glasses for daily drinking are the Riedel Vinuum series. Years back when friends from the golf course owned THE kitchen supply store in town my friends wife put on these wine glass comparison tastings/dinners. Just about everyone was skeptical but she encouraged everyone to bring the wine glass that you usually used. She came in with sets including Bordeaux/Burg/Chard/Sauv blanc glasses and charged $25 pp for the tasting and they kept the set of glasses. What a marketing ploy. I must have had a dozen or more dinners with friends and partners etc and I don't remember one person that didn't eventually make these their go to glasses. Personally I have 16 Bordeaux/6 Burg/6 chard/SB and 2 Shiraz that I rarely use because we rarely drink the stuff anymore apart from the odd Rhone wine. We have had no issues putting these in the dishwasher and NO breakage. Interestingly years back I approached the owner of the shop asking about getting a few cases of glasses for our wine dinners/tastings and she advised us to by the commercial restaurant version of the Riedel's which are blown glass instead of crystal and for the life of me I can't tell the difference apart from the fact that she sold 3 dozen to me at $4 a piece! These have gotten great use over the years.

Definitely the Somms are beautiful glasses but delicate for sure and we brought them out two weeks ago to enjoy a stunning 96 Mouton with my buddy's( got together to mourn my friend's wife's death) along with a beautiful second wine of the eve the 2002 Pavie which was fabulous but dwarfed by the Mouton. Started with a stunning wine that Jacques would have loved the 2014 Bachelet-Monnot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Referts that was incredible with PEI oysters brought in from my friends place. Best white Burg of the year by far. The glassware may or may not help these along but you sure feel like a million bucks holding these glasses in your hands....just don't drop them.

[Antoine]

Nobody tempted by Lehmann glasses?

Main glass I use is Riedel O Burg

[Comte Flaneur]

I am really pleased with my Lehmann purchases Antoine - the bigger bowls are especially good for northern rhone