Product Description

Introduced in 1989, Riedel's Ouverture collection is an uncomplicated beginner series for customers who appreciate good, reasonably priced wine. You needn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of varietals or wine-growing regions to appreciate this fine stemware.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11051 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Riedel
• Model: 408 /00
• Dimensions: 7.40" h x 3.25" w x 3.25" l, .40 pounds

Features

• 4 glasses shaped for serving red wines
• Machine-blown of lead-free potash glass
• Cut-and-polished rims so wine flows easily onto tongue
• Each holds 12-3/8 ounces, stands 7-3/8 inches high
• Made by world renowned wineglass makers

Amazon.com Review
Perfect for everyday use, the four red-wine glasses in this set are part of the moderately priced Ouverture series offered by world-renowned Austrian wineglass maker Riedel Crystal (founded in 1756). Being lead-free, they're not crystal like Riedel's premium glasses but are machine blown of potash glass and are dishwasher-safe. Their thin rims are cut and polished to Riedel's exacting standards, so wine flows easily onto the tongue. Each glass holds 12-3/8 ounces and stands 7-3/8 inches high. Though glasses shaped and sized for different types of wine seem commonplace today, when Riedel introduced this idea in 1961, it was revolutionary. Since then Riedel has continued fine-tuning glasses to bring out the best characteristics in wines and spirits. Varying bowls' shapes and sizes affects the position of the head when sipping and where wine first contacts the tongue's various taste zones. --Fred Brack

Customer Reviews

Excellent, inexpensive - great for beginning oenophiles!
If you're like me, you'd rather put your hard-earned money towards nice wines than on overpriced glassware. However, wine just doesn't taste the same if you drink it out of a plastic cup (yes, I am a college student). These entry-level glasses from Riedel fit the bill perfectly for my needs and are a great value for the price. The nose is enhanced, the taste is more pronounced, and the overal wine experience is heightened by using a high quality glass like this one. Plus, if one of them accidently gets broken, at [this price per] glass its not a big deal. However, I wouldn't trust the dishwasher with these glasses even though the description says you can. And yes, they are not crystal but they are very close at a fraction of the price. Highly recommended.

They work
I was actually surprised to find that wine *did* taste better from these glasses than what I'd used before. (Hmmm -- not necessarily better; bad wines taste worse, an unanticipated consequence.) In addition, the glasses are simple but pretty without being so expensive that I'm afraid to use them. I'm even willing to put them in the dishwasher, an important consideration for a self-indulgent bachelor. (I did manage to break one, though -- my own fault.) All in all, could hardly have been better.

sturdy basics
if you're like me, and suddenly need glassware, this is a great choice.

let's say i got a little sauced at a bar with friends, was feeling a bit grand, and decided to invite twelve growling, tattooed, punk hooligans who'd never touched a decent stem over to my house for a somewhat formal dinner. obviously a problematic situation.

would i want something that wouldn't send me into a fit once someone decided to hurl one on the floor as an proclamation? absolutely. would i want to make sure that my smelly, ill-mannered punker friends had a good glass of wine in their calloused paws, and are treated as royalty at least once in their lives? without a doubt.

this is a good, hearty line of glasses for those with both price and quality in mind. rock on.