The Stemless Revolution
I find it hard to wrap my fingers around the Riedel O. Maybe that’s because I hate getting fingerprints all over the glass, constantly check for smudges, and attempt to wipe away the ones I find. Another reason to hold by the stem is to avoid changing the temperature of the wine. You don’t want to warm up your white too much, or your red for that matter.
BUT. Riedel O’s are quite sturdy. I dropped one and it rolled onto a concrete floor and it didn’t break. With stemmed Riedels, that would be a definite kiss good bye. And the O can safely go into the dishwasher, whereas regular Riedels require special handling. I once destroyed one by washing it (carefully, mind you) when the stem simply snapped in my hands.
Seeing as how I don’t have a problem sitting around in the backyard drinking wine out of a rocks glass, the jump to Riedel O doesn’t seem all that long. It could be a matter of adjustment, time to get used to a new idea.
Though I don’t think I’ll ever want to drink those really special bottles in an O, for the same reason there’s still resistance to screwcaps. Part of the enjoyment of wine comes out of the presentation, the ceremony of it. Cutting the foil, the practically noiseless pop of the cork, splash of liquid against glass, then the swirling action…which you just can’t do without a stem. Well, you can, but it’s not the same.
….Farley Walker
December 12th, 2006 at 12:38 am
I love the “O” glasses! I also like to use them for plating desserts like ice cream and berries or appetizers like lump Dungeness crabmeat with a dollop of cocktail sauce on a bit of cracked ice. And I’m not one to reject the screwcap. Easy access is nothing to sniff at