I had 2 cru that I got last BD but unfortunately broke during the spring/summer. But a wine retailer just gave me 2 more as a gift at Thanksgiving after I had purchased a bunch of Burgundy from his company! I forgot how awesome these glasses are!
Has anyone used the Elemental Champagne glass (if, so how is it)? Will there be a Vigneron Champagne glass?
Jordan, we will not be making a Vigneron Champagne glass. We have tested, extensively, with peers and winemakers alike, and concluded that the MineralitƩ and LibertƩ fill that role exceptionally well.
The purpose of the Elemental line is to provide high traffic facilities with a more durable glass that also performs well and retains our mouth-blown artisan approach. Our Versatile glass, the āwineā glass of the set was designed with input from those in Bordeaux and should show a wine well enough with a 1.5-ounce pour to make it more profitable in a winery for example. If youāve ever been to E.P. in Bordeaux, it is tragic at how much wine is poured out. That concept (less wine per pour) resulted in this glass and the lineup. Most restaurants want a true flute, a universal wine glass, and a water glass. So the Elemental line is just that plus a carafe that holds 750ml of wine.
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Thanks for the explanation, Chris. I currently have the Mineralite and itās my go to for Rieslings and Champagne 
Really awesome glass!
+1 on Mineralite working wonderfully for bubbles.
For Jordanās sake:
I can attest that the āversatileā (formerly known as tasting glass) can accept a 355ml pour as I have poured an entire can of wine into it. You can definitely get a half bottle of champagne in there.
The Grassl tasting glass has become my go to glass for any and all wine that I want to enjoy with no fuss. Love them.
+1 on the Liberteā for bubbles! it is my go-to glass for champagne. Love the open size (not to large, but certainly not a flute), as well as, the heft of the glass.
Has there been a change to the Grassl glasses? I have two 1855s from earlier this year that are excellent. Received two more, plus two Mineraliteās, for Xmas from my wife. New ones are an ounce heavier, much wider of stem and lip, and not nearly the same feel.
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I am glad you asked-I just ordered 4 of the 1855ās to replace past breakage.
I believe they had variability in weights before that were rectified recently and went with the heavierweights going forward. I have some older ones that have noticeable weight variations between them. My new ones were very close to my older āheavierā ones.
Has there been a change to the Grassl glasses? I have two 1855s from earlier this year that are excellent. Received two more, plus two Mineraliteās, for Xmas from my wife. New ones are an ounce heavier, much wider of stem and lip, and not nearly the same feel.
Mike, reach out to me privately at chris@cjfselections.com
To publicly answer your question āno, not really.ā - but I will also qualify it. Depending on when you purchased your glasses originally there is a high level of likelihood that the stems can be a tad heavier. And, buy a tad, I do mean that.
An ounce is 28 grams, which is material, and may indicate you have glasses āout of specā.
We are on cycle #6 at the factory and just completed our 130,000 stem.
As weāve grown weāve worked on product consistency and have, in the interest of durability, had the glass blowers add more weight. But, an 1855 should be between 100 and 110 grams. For you to have a 1 ounce delta between your stems tells me you likely have original glasses in the low 80ās and a new one at the top of the spec.
Variances in the stems will exist. Such is the world of a product that is custom made each time. Further, we are currently using wooden molds (vs. steel) and the way wooden molds work is that they burn a touch with each new glass. That burning means the mold gets a tad bigger each time and hence nuances to each stem. We prefer the wood molds currently though have been discussing moving to steel. Thatās a ways off if we do make the shift and right now we donāt anticipate doing this.
But, Iād like you to send me the weights of your stems using a kitchen scale in grams, please.
The line between ephemeral weights and durability needs to be taken into account. We can blow super light glasses but their fragility leads to a poor customer experience in the long run.
-Chris
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Thanks for the quick follow up, greatly appreciated, especially on Christmas Day.
My remaining glass (1855) from my first purchase in Sept weighs 85g. New glasses weigh 112g and 116g.
Iāll follow up directly.
I received an 1855 from my fiance for Christmas and canāt wait to use it tonight. Have to pick up some matching glasses at b day soon.
Mike,
Yep - that is the way Iād see it happening. Early glasses are lighter than what weāre producing today. Iāll send you a note privately. Happy to refund your money. Iām sorry youāre unhappy but we need to make a glass with enough material in it to be viable for 1000ās of uses and at sub 90 grams, it really isnāt.
We did just update the corporate page with a video. Some of you may find this interesting to watch.
-Chris
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Nice video, Chris! Cool to see these handmade pieces of art.
Watching it, I had two questions:
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what is the average time to make a single glass?
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is breakage āon the lineā an issue? Itās seems such a delicate process, Iād expect you need experienced folks to not have a shop floor full of broken glass!
Not trying to get you to disclose anything confidential, just curiosity.
I love my Grassls, and theyāve stood up to a fair bit of punishment, especially by the end of the night. Chris has also provided excellent service on multiple occasions. Highly recommended.
Mike Hill
I think a crew of 5 can create a stem every 6 minutes, plus/minus a minute - so we get about 10/12 created an hour and roughly 60% QC pass rate. Those that fail QC go right back into the kiln/furnace so there is no loss or waste.
I think, but will ask and confirm, but, think it takes about 1000 āblowsā to be able to reliably make a glass. So, thatās what separates an apprentice from a production worker.
And, nothing confidential. But, I appreciate you recognizing that may be possible. Alexander has been working on a deeper documentary of the factory he hopes to release in 2021. It will give more insight to the process and the people. And, thanks for the compliments Mikeā¦I appreciate them.
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Chris -
Much appreciated, I sent you a note. Great product, and I fully understand the decision to increase the weight to reduce breakage.
Utterly impeccable customer service, I greatly appreciate the immediate follow ups and resolution.
Itās funny this is being discussed now. I got pretty early sets of stems. At some point I had to replace a Cru because my wifeās dogs tail killed one. I later realized that one of my Crus was noticeably heavier than the others, at least when you hold one in each hand-I really canāt tell if I just pick one up at random. BTW, you really canāt tell when it has wine in it, which is sort of the purpose of the thing. The heavier one is 26 grams heavier than the others, which doesnāt seem like a lot, but if youāre on this board, you almost certainly have a āheavyā dose of anal retentiveness and would notice. So, I let my adult children drink out of that one when I serve. Theyāre only holding it with wine in it and they donāt know itās slightly heavier, so no problem. Anyway, I called Chris amonth ago and talked to him about it and he explained that they started making them a slight bitter heavier to improve survivability in a battlefield environment. Itās fine. I will admit I really like the āhandfeelā of the light ones though.
Chris,
If you donāt mind sharing, what is the current spec. weight for Mineralite, Liberte, and Cru? I went to your website in an effort to find this information, but didnāt see it; my apologies if itās there and I simply missed it.
Brian
Weāll publish them in a web site revision. But, spec for the 1855 and Cr is 104 with up to a 12-15 gram tolerance. That tolerance should be on the heavy side as 15 below gets you back down into the high 80ās which isnāt durable. The M&L should be at 90 with about a 10G variability.
You didnāt miss it. We donāt publish it simply because youād have people putting them on the scale each and every time wondering why their 6 pack doesnāt have the same weights across the board. And, well, a mouth-blown, handcrafted product will have variances. It just will.
Here is a huge example of what the human hand can discern. the stem - when that stick of glass is 5MM vs. 4MM it is amazing how you feel it. Now go look on a ruler at how big 1MM is in real life and find something of similar sizeā¦Our ability to be that aware to minor changes in weight or dimension is a testament to how sensitive our tactile senses are.
These arenāt engine parts where .0001 tolerances are required. They are glasses.
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