Riedel and the Big O

Everyone's talking about Riedel's "O" stemless glasses. Part of the new awareness was GM Patrick McGee's decision to put them in heavy rotation at the downtown Ruth's Chris. But lately, the big buzz I've been hearing about them by regular wine drinkers involves the ability to throw them in the dishwasher!

Certainly, there was never any question that the biggest hassle with Riedel's high end delicate crystal wine glasses was the breakage -- at bowl or stem. And other biggest hassle (usually leading to breakage by klutzes like me) came from having to hand washing them with every use. Even if I wanted to put my pinot noir "tankards" in the dishwasher, they won't fit. They're too tall!

While I still subscribe to the "never put crystal in the dishwasher" theory (something about minerals leaching out and making it more brittle), I do like the idea of an everyday wine glass I can throw in the top rack. (I have a couple of good sturdy crystal glasses I use for this very purpose but am mortified they're going to fail me.) With new advances in dishwashing detergent, any careful user should be able to prevent scoring (and even spots!) So, for the price, I'm going to give them a home test drive. At least for reds. (I'm not convinced about the stemless approach for whites yet.)

They're available just about everywhere locally, but Steinmart has sets of two for about $18.00 (regularly $24 or so.)