Wine Accessories Gifts - Wine Glasses?

Wine Glasses?

I am planning a wine tasting party and need to purchase more wine glasses. How expensive should I go? and should I use a type of glass made for both red and white wines? Any advice would be appreciated! I have 6 Lenox crystal White wine glasses

Public Comments

I wouldn't get to carried away on price for a one time party. The crystal is really nice, but it isn't going to make a bit of difference if you just have glass.
Get cheapo glasses. Bed bath and beyond has sets of 12 for like $15 if not less.
If you aren't regular wine drinkers you can rent glasses too. No point in buying them if you won't use them any time soon. If you do want to buy, then I would suggest checking out Target or Cost Plus World Market. I recenlty even saw decent wine glasses at the Dollar Tree Store near me and Big Lots. They have a nice selection at not too high a price. If you're a member, Costco has some nice ones too. How much you want to spend really will depend on if you are going to use them often or just this once. Again, I'd look at renting if it's just once. And if you are tasting both red and white, then you should have both. Have fun.
Go to the local dollar store! you can usually buy wine glasses there. some a re really pretty. You dont have to get certain ones for certain wine!!
Life is very short. http://www.riedel.com/ If you have true Lenox, the Riedel's price shouldn't be problematic. Enjoy the party. Cheers, MG
I wouldn't spend money on really good glasses...its not the glass its the wine that makes the party. I was at a wine tasting in Italy at at a 13 century castle and the glasses were no frills glasses...it was the wine and people who made it what it was. And yes one glass for both is fine, keep water on hand to clean the glasses out, good luck
You could just get the plastic ones at a party store. I have a few here. Granted, they're supposed to be for a one time use, but heck.... my kids like to drink out of them. The little one calls them the "fancy glasses". As has been stated by others, it's the wine, not the glass that matters. People want to be able to taste the wines and enjoy the other people around them.
I would go to Crate and Barrel and get some red and white wine glasses. The red wine glasses are bigger - you can use them for white wine with no harm done, but it doesn't work the other way around. Red wines really do need to "breathe" (that is, mix with oxygen to bring out their flavor). Crystal is better, but not100% necessary. Without going into a lot of detail, crystal is a bit "rougher" from the wine's point of view (you'd never notice it just touching it) than glass and activates more of the taste and smell -- but there's not a huge difference for me, and I've been wine-tasting for um...over 20 years. If you want to do a crystal/glass compromise, invest in a crystal decanter. It looks really cool, does what the crystal glasses do (swirl the wine around in it and let it sit 5-10 minutes before pouring) and geez, don't you look smart?
my absolute faves, are from target. Made by fancy glance company Riedel. they are four for $45. Great quality, not horribly expensive. they have a red wine and a white wine glass. they do go on sale on occasion. I got mine for $35 or the set of four. If that's more than you want to spend. Cost Plus World Market has great dirt cheap glasses. set of six for $9.99.
Libby makes a wine glass called "the tasting glass" it is inexpensive but perfect for wine tasting due to its wide bowl. I use them in the tasting room. You can easily find them on the web at sites like galasource. If you do not want to purchase on the web look for glasses that have a wide bowl at the bottom. Don't use glasses that narrow at the bottom, they reduce the release of esters from the wine and take away from the experience.
Forget about the fancy crystal with the designs that your parents and grand parents used. It is the shape that is important. If you are serving red wine, then get some red wine glasses that are similar to the ones shown at this web site http://www.riedel.com Ridel is famous for engineering the perfect shape wine glass (light crystal). The better the shape of the glass, the better the wine is going to taste. Ridel has several different lines; the low end glass runs about $12.00. If you friends are serious about drinking high end wine, then this is what I would look at. These glasses work! Many stores sell them. Warning: It doe not take much to break one; thus, I hand wash them. If you are looking at spending less money, there are knock off that sell for a lot less money (glass instead of crystal). Look for a glass that is similar in shape. They sell between $3.00 to $4.00 each.
There are so many wine glasses on the market. You can easily find the ideal stemware to fit both your budget and needs. Red wine is better in the large bowl glasses because they allow oxygen to get mixed in with the wine, which "airs" the wine and reduces excessive tannins. You can just go ahead and serve white wine in them as well or purchase some smaller glasses for white wines. The top wine glasses for tasting wine is generally considered to be Riedel. They are great quality glasses. You can find some cheaper brands that are also good. Another quality brand that comes to mind that is less expensive is Spiegelau. I would definitely suggest that you not use plastic wine glasses for a wine tasting party. The plastic can interfere with the flavor of the wine. Have fun at your party!