There’s a reason we don’t just drink wine out of a pint glass (or rather, why we shouldn’t). Wine glasses are specialized for drinking wine, and as such, they are made up of several components that optimize the experience. Below, you'll find the most important factors to consider when buying a wine glass

Seamless Lead-Free Crystal Construction - Made in Austria by highly skilled European craftsmen, highest quality lead-free Austrian crystal. A single piece of molten crystal is blown into the signature shape of the bowl, the stem is pulled, and the footplate is formed all without any joints, seams, or glues. Gabriel Glas makes beautiful crystal wines glasses and is the only wine glass I use at home. Gabriel Glas Standart shows each wine in its most raw form. It is perfect for wine lovers as you get all the nuances. We often get asked if Gabriel-Glas crystal is dishwasher safe. All Gabriel-Glas glasses, decanters, and carafes have passed the EU standard EN-12875 which means they exceeded 1,000 washing cycles with no degradation in brilliance and are resistant to common detergents. We recommend using an unscented, powdered detergent with a built in rinse aid when washing our dishwasher-safe crystal. From left to right: Gabriel-Glas Stand-Art, Gabriel-Glas Gold Edition, Zwiesel 1873 Select Riesling Grand Cru, Zalto Denk’Art Universal, JR + RB 1 What to Expect to SpendMulti-Piece: Most glasses are made with multiple pieces. The high-end models are not, which is why they are so much more durable despite how fragile they look and feel. Still, there’s nothing wrong with being multi-piece, make sure they get the seams off. (You can feel the seam on the stem.) Opening Diameter: This trait really affects the aroma presence of wine. In the video, I had some quips about smaller diameter openings for red wines because of how much it shoveled the aromas into my nose (the burn!). 2.25 inches was tight for reds but ideal for whites. 2.5 inches was about right (both Zalto and Gabriel-Glass were around 2.5). Finally, my “old standby” restaurant series Riedel Vinum Extreme Cabernets have a diameter of 2.75. The bowl of a wine glass is the part that holds your wine, and they come in all sorts of shapes. In general, a wider bowl leads to greater aeration, allowing the wine to “breathe,” which alters its flavor, as well as allowing for more aromas to make their way to your nose. Different types of wine require different levels of aeration and aroma, but a general rule of thumb is that red wines should have a wider bowl, white wines should have a narrower one and sparkling wines should be served in the narrowest vessels. Bowl Clarity: One thing I noticed on all the hand blown models was an amazing clarity. Many machine-made glasses will have slight ribbing on the bowl, and it distorts light. It doesn’t affect the taste, but it’s one of those things you notice when looking at quality.

Despite their size and shape, they are surprisingly durable. Durability is excellent because my wife’s hobbies include breaking Riedel glasses. Gabriel Glas Gabriel-Glas may not roll off the tongue the way Riedel does, but if you’re not familiar with this brand, you’re missing out on some exception glassware. The brand is the brainchild of Rene Gabriel, a former wine critic who developed this glass to be a uniform — yet ideal — glass for tastings. He spent two years developing the glass, which (unlike the Riedel approach) is designed to be ideal for any type of wine and is not varietal specific. In other words, it’s intended to be the perfect “all in one” wine glass.It has been a long time between shared drinks for a lot of us. I have not hosted a dinner since October 2019. I am keen to get out and share great food and great company. How about you? While collecting glasses, we were delighted to get our hands on the newly launched Jancis Robinson + Richard Brendon “1” collaboration. If you don’t know her, Jancis Robinson is one of the world’s foremost wine critics. So, this particular glass comes with a lot of built-in street credit! Which Glass Won? This one glass will easily supersede your Riesling glass, Champagne, Pinot, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc without you having to have 4-8 glasses in each style. Or worse still, having mismatched glasses on the dinner table. Gabriel Glas Standart