Stems: The Achilles’ heel of the wine glass?

I like Schott glasses in general, and I’ve enjoyed their “Air Burgundy” glasses (up to now) for their light, nimble feel, kind of a slightly less nimble Zalto. However, I’ve had the stems snap on three of them: 2 during routine cleaning, and one recently, when I went to casually flick out the last vestiges of one wine into the sink before pouring another. The stem snapped clean in half, and the end gashed my finger pretty damn good (my daughter said it looked “like a murder scene”).
So, does stem integrity play into your glass choices? What are some good quality glasses with stems that stand up to repeated home use?

They all eventually do that.

All these fancy and specific stems were invented after the wines, so I don’t feel overly obligated to the finest in stemware. In a pinch, I can even, gasp, handle drinking from a stem with a rolled lip.

Sometimes we outfancy the wine!

Please, no hating, but my favorite wine glass is a large brandy snifter with a short and stocky stem.

Rant ended.

I hope it didn’t hurt your booger finger!

I’m guessing physics plays into it. These glasses have a relatively long stem compared to total height. My Riedel Restaurant Shiraz glasses (a go-to in our house) have relatively short stems, and I’ve never had this happen with them.

Ha, Anton! It was my middle finger, so it mainly affects my driving.

[rofl.gif]

You are awesome.

It is definitely the weakest point, but 2 things: it is designed so your body heat doesn’t warm the wine by having to hold the bowl (and then look absolutely disgusting when people eat and grab the bowl), and when you wash them you are supposed to hold the base not the stem, almost like you are holding a ball.

I hope your driving finger heals soon.

I love the craft and feel of a well designed glass, but there’s a limit. Some of the fancy pants super-thin ones look more designed to break than anything else. Awkwardly big bowl on top an unnecessarily long stem so thin it doesn’t fit the hand well. That type seems stupid and cheap. The stem doesn’t need to be super thin just like a decanter doesn’t need to be super thin. Do you really want to have to be worrying that the slightest incidental tap will shatter your decanter full of some precious wine? Bowls should be pretty thin, but beyond a certain point they take on the feel of plastic. $80 plastic that will shatter if you look at it funny.

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Tasting in Burgundy, one is often served wine in a small cognac snifter.

My SO has started drinking her red sangria from a little cooler non transparent tumbler, which completely ruins the visual appeal of the fancy colored goblets, cut up fruit, and frozen ice fruit cubes I put in it for her. But no stems to break…

Personally I don’t have the stem shattering problem but I’m using the mass market Spiegelau, Riedel, Schott Z, Nachtmann etc. Nothing handblown here.

Yeah, the long thin ones are useless. They stand up at the table like those centerpieces some people love that simply get in the way of conversation. Short stems are my faves.

it is designed so your body heat doesn’t warm the wine by having to hold the bowl

This is one of those wine myths that are bandied about with absolute certainty but on reflection, make no sense whatsoever. How exactly would one warm the wine by holding the bowl?

Anyone who is shooting infrared rays or heat from their fingertips is the next super hero. I have yet to meet anyone whose fingertips are hot enought to heat up a glass of wine. Although I suspect that my wife can do the opposite - her hands are so cold all the time that I’ll gladly let her cup my wine to chill it down.

Greasy fingerprints are a different story.

Well, typical air temperature in a room will be around 20-25 C, whereas body temperature is 36 C. Wine in glass will slowly thermalize to air temperature, whereas if in contact with your body (hands) will (also slowly but less so) reach 36 C. Sorry for stating the obvious which I am sure you know.
Of course the question is how fast this process is and how long one holds the glass to induce any significant temperature change, but it is clear that the air is at lower temperature than the body’s and has a much lower thermal capacity, which means that it transfers heat to the wine at a much lower rate.
So, without doing the math about induced temperature changes (which will moreover depend in many variables), not to let the wine get in touch (through a thin glass) with your body is in general a good guideline - if your goal is to keep the wine at its initial temperature for as long as possible.
What’s the myth in all this?

I agree with you that greasy fingerprints are even uglier…

I love my Zalto Universal glasses. I do feel that when I occasionally pour too big a glass that the bowl could snap off. Hasn’t happened yet, but it does feel top heavy when the bowl is on the fuller side.

Solution: drink the contents, down to a lower level. [wink.gif]

Well, typical air temperature in a room will be around 20-25 C, whereas body temperature is 36 C. Wine in glass will slowly thermalize to air temperature, whereas if in contact with your body (hands) will (also slowly but less so) reach 36 C. Sorry for stating the obvious which I am sure you know.
Of course the question is how fast this process is and how long one holds the glass to induce any significant temperature change, but it is clear that the air is at lower temperature than the body’s and has a much lower thermal capacity, which means that it transfers heat to the wine at a much lower rate.

Completely understood. No disagreement.

However, 1) most people hold their glass with their fingers, so body contact is fairly limited and while fingertips may be warmer than the ambient air, the great mass of the glass is out of contact with those fingers; and 2) people at a table rarely clutch their glasses full time but rather pick up the glass when they’re drinking and put it down when they’re not.

I’m sure we’ve all tried to warm up a glass of wine by cupping it in both hands and hoping to transfer some body heat into the wine. It takes a while to do that and by the time you’d be able to do it with your fingertips, you would most likely be done drinking the wine anyway.

I have replaced all my thicker glasses with the ultra-light Zalto Bordeaux over time. I have snapped my share of Zalto’s, but I so enjoy the delicate feel of them. I’ve learned to clean them by only holding the bowl. Chris Freemott, a Berserker selling them on Commerce Corner that many of you may know, keeps me supplied. He urges me to instead clean them in the dishwasher.