The Stemless Wineglass

To Stem or not to Stem?

Ryan White

The Stemless Wineglass.

Folks, I’m not going to lie – I enjoy my wine.

I enjoy wine as an experience, an experience of accompaniment. My wine is usually enjoyed with accompanying food, accompanying entertainment, accompanying… company. 

However what is almost always forgotten is the object the wine is ALWAYS accompanied by, the wineglass. (Excluding goon, but goon doesn't count.)

 

The wineglass is the apparatus which holds the wine in place; it is the most important accessory to the enjoyment of wine, as without it the wine would most likely end up as a puddle on the floor once out of the bottle. Yet it is usually not even an after thought of the whole experience. Unless of course, you happen to be a wineglass company.

The wineglass has traditionally been composed of 3 components: the bowl, the stem and the foot. An innovation in 2004 by the Austrian glassware giant Riendel was to do away with do away with the foot and more importantly, the stem. The resulting product from this innovation was the stemless wineglass (the first of which being the Riendel "O" Series).

The Stemless wineglass next to its traditional counterpart.

The stemless wineglass is fashionable there is no doubting that, with its sleek design and its renegade approach to the requirements for holding wine. The question then however, is what does it really contribute to the whole experience of wine drinking? The most important component of the wineglass, the bowl, with its wide body is designed to increase the rate of oxidation once the drink is poured. This is in order for the oxygen to open up the wine to the aromas and flavours lying dorment, while the wine is in the bottle (and oxygen deprived). Both stemless and traditional wineglasses have wide bodies, so this leads yours truly to believe there is nothing new to the experience of wine drinking with a stemless glass in this regard.

The foot is obviously to keep the wineglass steady, due to the presence of the stem, so naturally there is no need for a foot on a stemless wineglass. This leads to the stem itself, the defining component that the stemless wineglass is... lacking. 

There are several points that can be made here. Anyone who has used a traditional wineglass can attest to the fact that they are absolute spill-magnets. Someone telling a story, making hand gestures or just being plain clumsy with a full, traditional wineglass in close proximity is the perfect recipe for impossibly tough stains and disgruntled hosts. 

 

Source: Manon Wethly

With the stemless wineglass there is an element of rigidity that was not present before, as the glass's height is halved and its most unbalanced component is removed. 

However, this removal is a double-edged sword. One of the purposes for the stem is that it gives the user a component of the glass to hold that is not in contact with the wine. This helps regulate the temperature of the wine, as the user's body heat is not as easily transferred to the wine itself when held by the stem. Without the stem, the stemless wineglass allows the wine to get much warmer more quickly. Arguably a flaw which takes away from the experience.

Finally, it should not be forgotten that the manner in which a wineglass is held allows for the user to show off their ability to be a smug wine drinker. Does the removal of the stem take away from this ability? You be the judge:

Smug?

  

 

Smug.

Pros:

• Fashionable
• Is much sturdier and rigid than its counterpart

Cons:

• The removal of the stem has disadvantages including decreased heat regulation and decreased smugness (although the latter may be considered a pro depending on your personality, in which case add another star.)

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars