Hi everyone- I’m clumsy and break wine glasses all the time, so I like having inexpensive glasses that can be thrown in the dishwasher without worry that are adequate for everyday use. I’ve been using Eric Asimov’s #1 pick, the Libbey Signature Kentfield Estate All-Purpose which are <$10 apiece. They are very good for the price and pretty robust.
Just to assure you all that I’m not a total barbarian, I use Zalto Universals and Riedel Grand Cru Sommelier Burgundy stems for nice wines.
Anyway, I just broke two of the Libbeys and rather than buying more of the same, I figured I’d see what you all recommend. I’m looking for inexpensive, reasonable quality, strong glasses that could used for red/white/sparkling.
I like the schott zwiesel Tritan Pure line. Look at Home Goods or Marshall’s, just picked up 4 pack of Burgundy glasses for 25 bucks today. We have Sav Blanc, Cab glasses as well. We drink a fair amount outside and break our fair share as well.
Friend got me a set of the WE Fusion Air @ ~$15 per. They have a 10 year “warranty” where they’ll replace any broken ones with a replacement at the cost of $12.95. I broke one cuz the stem hit the edge of my dry rack but otherwise they’ve held up pretty well and feel good.
+1 for Schott Zwiesel, however I find the Cru Classic Bordeaux to be my preferred glass. A very versatile glass working really well with a wide range of grapes and styles. For red wines I also use it for Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Syrah, basically any wines of reasonable quality shows well. Less good and unbalanced will make the flaws stand out more… Use it for white wines, even dry Riesling with acidic structure works very good, as does amber wines, etc.
Haven’t done it yet, but would love to do a comparative tasting with a few different varieties, test more premium glasses like Zalto and Riedel.
Agree with others about the SZ tritan glasses. Crate & Barrel, pottery barn, Macy’s all sell a version of these and when they run a sale, can pick up very cheaply.
These glasses from Crate and Barrel have been amazing. They are only $7/each and the Burgundy one looks almost identical to the Zalto. I can’t recommend these glasses enough.
IMO, better to just go with good glasses and avoid breaking them. I have not broken a single Zalto, and otherwise make good use of both the Gabriel Glas Machinemade (whatever they are called), and the Gabriel Glas Gold. Why go for a lesser glass?? And certainly not a stemless…
I use a pair of the Glasvin stemware for everyday and won’t worry about it. Not sure if it qualifies as cheaper, but certainly a lot cheaper than much of the other stemware in the cabinet.
We use the Riedel Ouvertures as mentioned above. They seemed like a really nice deal at the (looks back at Amazon purchase history…) $64 we payed for 8 glasses in 2012. Those same glasses are $120 now so they aren’t the same bargain they used to be. One thing I really like about them is that they are not too tall. We have problems knocking over tall glasses and tall glasses don’t fit in the dishwasher very well. Keeping stems under 8", or so, seems to be the sweet spot for an everyday glass.
Another Schott Zwiesel guy for cheap glasses.
IWA Wine has a special on some of the Forte’s- buy 6, get 8 for $60. Under $8/glass. I use their Burgundy glasses as a general red glass for large groups.
I’m glad they stuck with the Forte line. When they released the more angled, square bottom Tritans it seemed like the Forte was being discontinued. I didn’t really care for that square bottom design.
The last set I bought was the smaller, light red and white style. I’ve been using those for everyday drinking and been quite happy. I will definitely use them for future events where pours might be small.
