That's
the big-money question when it comes to Riedel Crystal's new
"O" Series stemless stemware -- a line of wine glasses
whose bowls sit flat on the table like fallen Humpty Dumpties.
The Riedels, a family of Austrian crystal makers, have long
maintained that the only way to drink wine is from a stemmed
glass. If you take the rustic approach and use a tumbler, the
argument goes, fingerprints will smudge the bowl and, worse,
heat from the imbiber's hands will warm the wine. Who wants
to drink Chenin Blanc at 98.6 degrees? But the Riedels have
spotted a market opportunity and suddenly tumblers are not only
OK, they're superior to stemmed glasses in some ways.
"This makes it very easy to swirl," said Maximilian
Riedel at a trade seminar last week at San Francisco's Fort
Mason, demonstrating with an egg- shaped glass held delicately
between his thin fingers. As it happens, the temperature increase
from holding the bowl is negligible as long as you don't cup
it in your hand, says the 26-year-old Riedel, who invented the
"O" Series. Unsightly smudges? Those are no big deal
compared to the convenience of wine glasses that don't tip easily,
have no stems to break off, fit with ease into the dishwasher
and stack conveniently on the shelf, he says.
Now
there's a choice!
Riedel
says the tumblers are not designed to replace stemware; they
merely provide a casual, convenient alternative. But he maintains
that even when using stemmed glasses, "Nobody holds the
glass by the stem, even though they should."
Well, ahem, not quite. I am so averse to smudging that I not
only hold my
wine glass by the stem, I have been known to target my sips
to a single point on the rim so I leave only one lip print.
Did I ask to be born this way? Goodness no. And I'm not claiming
to be typical. But the fact remains that some people would rather
drink from a sparkly glass than a greasy one.
Now, for an opposing viewpoint from a normal person, my general
contractor Bill Ghirardelli, who recently saw the tumblers on
my kitchen table.
"I don't care about smudges," says Ghirardelli. "Not
having stems should
really minimize the breakage. I think these could really take
off!" A hot number!!
As it happens, he is right. While it is early to say how "O"
Series will
ultimately fare, Rob Griffin, import manager for Riedel's Northern
California distributor, Wine Warehouse, says he has been flooded
with orders for the tumblers, which are fast becoming one of
his company's hottest products. "I was really skeptical
when Maximilian showed them to me, but every single person in
the trade I've shown them to has been extremely positive,"
says Griffin. "Every single person. That never happens
in the wine industry." People seem to like the tumblers
for juice and soda, as well as wine, he says.
Sean Andrade, a seminar attendee and buyer for Winecentives
Inc. wine shop in Dublin, says he is planning to stock "O"
Series glasses both to sell and to use in the shop's wine bar.
He was skeptical before last week's demonstration, but it convinced
him that the tumblers show the wine well and will both reduce
breakage and alleviate space problems. (Two glasses can be stacked
when the bottom one is upside down.) "The stemless is an
awesome idea," says Andrade.
At the trendy Pen-Top Bar & Terrace in New York, one of
the first bars to use the "O" Series, the glasses
have proven popular with the "in" crowd and breakage
is down 60 percent, says manager Zack Zahran. The best part
for Zahran, though, is that the tumblers look cool when sitting
on the Pen-Top's illuminated crystal bar -- even if they are
smudgy). "I was looking for something different. It's a
very cool glass," he says.
The "O" Series is actually Riedel's Vinum line with
the stems chopped off and the bottoms flattened. But they are
half the cost, retailing for $9 to $12.
Several
Shapes & Sizes
The line includes six models designed to highlight the qualities
of specific
varietals: Riesling/Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier/Chardonnay, aged
Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Noir/Nebbiolo and Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot.
Maximilian Riedel says he uses his company's top-of-the-line
Sommelier Series glasses when he's serious about the wine he's
drinking, but pulls out the "O" Series when he gets
home late from work and doesn't feel like hand washing the glasses.
Published
by the SFGate.com
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