Does one really need a $110 glass to enjoy wine?

[El Presidente]

5 minutes ago, 99call said:

I'm gonna wait for Fuzz to audit your numbers

...thankfully those are retail textbook numbers 

If you want a shot at a  "category killer" the 80/50 rule is the target. 

[Fuzz]

On 1/30/2024 at 8:55 AM, Chas.Alpha said:

Why spend $110 on a wine glass when it’s easier just to drink it out of the bottle?

Here, here!

[wjs]

Being wine-ITB, I have some friends in the glass business and had a conversation with one of them about the changing landscape just last week. He was approached by a Chinese-based rep that had every high-end stem in a 1:1 knockoff at 1/10th the price. Zalto, Conterno, Riedel - all of them for less than $10/per glass. He wanted my thoughts on what to do as his line costs him $35-ish/per unit landed in the US. I relayed to him that when I started 15-ish years ago, there were three levels/manufacturers of wine bottles in the marketplace. Italy (highest quality, price), Mexico (cheaper but still enough to pass QC) and Chinese glass, which was very cheap but quite poor. Fast forward less than 10 years - the Chinese got it together and put everyone else out of business. There are no other viable options and I told him that was coming for him.

 

tl;dr - glassware is important and worth it. Soon it will be much much cheaper.

[El Presidente]

 

[LLC]

Many years ago I was sceptical that a purpose built glass would make a difference vs. a regular run of the mill glass until I tested it out. It makes a significant difference. I have a number of different Riedel glasses for different varietals. There are more expensive options but these work fine for me.


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[RDB]

9 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Would it be fair to say that a "good glass" can deliver 80% of what a "great glass" delivers......at 50% of the price? 

That 80/50 rule is generally considered  the magic sweet spot of product retail.

Yes, absolutely. The big price jump is generally from machine made to hand made glasses. I would say the difference between those two categories is all about aesthetics in the hand and to the eye, and not in relation to how they make wine taste and smell. So for me, good quality machine made is the sweet spot. 

[BrightonCorgi]

23 hours ago, RDB said:

Yes, absolutely. The big price jump is generally from machine made to hand made glasses. I would say the difference between those two categories is all about aesthetics in the hand and to the eye, and not in relation to how they make wine taste and smell. So for me, good quality machine made is the sweet spot. 

The balance is machine stem and hand blown bowl. When I have people over we always do a glass per bottle. 5 people for dinner; that's at least 25 glasses need!  I need to keep the stems under $10 each and being able to replace broken ones with the same. I use to create place mats, each wine had it's own spot with who supplied it. Now I just use a Sharpie to write down the producer's initials and vintage on the base of the glass. Comes off easy when washing.

[Fugu]

7 hours ago, RDB said:

Yes, absolutely. The big price jump is generally from machine made to hand made glasses. I would say the difference between those two categories is all about aesthetics in the hand and to the eye, and not in relation to how they make wine taste and smell. So for me, good quality machine made is the sweet spot. 

In total agreement. Plus, machine-made from top makers has become incredibly sophisticated these days. Long gone are the times of thick-walled and heavy bowls, seams running down the stem, and abutting edges between stem and bowl/foot. All smooth and lightweight today. Shape and size it is, not so much whether hand- or machine-blown. Not anymore.

[GoodStix]

On 1/31/2024 at 2:00 PM, LLC said:

Many years ago I was sceptical that a purpose built glass would make a difference vs. a regular run of the mill glass until I tested it out. It makes a significant difference.

True. A surprisingly large difference. Especially the aroma. Yes, no one needs a hand blown Riedel. But they definitely work. Always fear breaking when handwashing, so we use their MM for inexpensive wines.

[GoodStix]

15 hours ago, Fugu said:

machine-made from top makers has become incredibly sophisticated these days… Shape and size it is, not so much whether hand- or machine-blown. Not anymore.

Good to hear. Been a long time since we bought our glasses so I don’t know what’s out there now.