Wide stem wine glasses [Cooking]

2007 Jul 20
Lately, I've completely lost patience with tall-stemmed wine glasses. They're spindly and easy to knock over at the table, and they don't fit nicely in our dishwasher. When I drink wine in the absence of company I have a little juice-glass sized tumbler that makes me happy.

So I'm trying to find some wide stem wine glasses that are entertaining-friendly. I've looked at the Riedel "O" stemless glasses and find them to be a little fragile and fingerprint-prone for my taste (although we did buy some of their really funky champagne flutes).

The glass I found which I like best so far is the wide stem one in this picture. These are available online under the name "Brilliant Jumbo" (www.klinq.com) or at Stokes (limited selection) as "Bohemia Jumbo". I totally love the look and feel of them but the big problem is that they're 14% lead. Lead crystal glassware is recommended against for all long term storage, but also for short term (drinking glass) use by pregnant women and small children. (Yeah, yeah.. no pregnant women or small children will be drinking my wine, but I don't want the lead exposure myself!)

So I'm reaching out to you... has anyone seen any nice solid wide stem glasses that do not contain lead?

2007 Jul 20
These are completely stemless. If you tell your entertainees that they're hip in Prague, you can probably get away with it. Not sure if they contain lead.

www.klinq.com

I'm not a fan of spindly wine glasses either.


2007 Jul 20
being a billy's best fan and having attended one of his excellent wine evenings, i usually always use a tumbler for my wine. some wines do need a larger glass and sparkling wines need a special glass, but the wine i drink is always good in a tumbler. i own a set of special glasses just for that and all my guests enjoy drinking with them.

here is a link to billy's
www.billysbestbottles.com/

2007 Jul 20
The kitchen store in Westboro (Kitchenalia?) carries a nice line of thick stemmed wine glasses which I have been satisfied with - not sure on the lead content but you could ask at the store. They are lower quality range stemware - about $2-5 each and they do work fine in the dishwasher - although if one breaks it's not the biggest loss.

2007 Jul 21
FF ~ The Glebe Emporium (724 Bank Street) carries the "Gina" glass by Bohemia Crystal (Czech Rep). It's this glass but w/o the etched design and just a tiny bit more of a taper in to the rim. They have the 6.5 oz wine glass ($4.25) and a 12 oz goblet ($5.00).
I have the thirst buster 20 oz size. I LOVE them. They have a really splendid feel in your hand and have stood up well to use. They get a lot of compliments. Beauties.

Re: Lead content. Hmm. Not sure. It wasn't mentioned on the label and I didn't see the original box when I bought mine.


2007 Jul 21
The ones I was talking about at Kitchenalia look exactly the same, but without the etching.

2007 Jul 21
I'd bet that anything made by Bohemia Crystal contains lead. The ones at Stokes also didn't mention lead -- it was only when I found their "Brilliant" branded counterparts that I discovered the explicit lead declaration. Anyways, I like these glasses so much though that I'm willing to consider ingesting a tiny bit of lead. :)

Thanks for the info!

2007 Jul 22
Aren't there lead test kits you can get fairly cheaply?

2007 Jul 23
There are laws as to how much lead, dinnerware can leach in both the US and Canada. There is a good pdf here (www.hc-sc.gc.ca) from the Government of Canada. Basically they say the risk is minimal if it's stored in the glass for a short period, and they suggest you do NOT store liquor for long periods of time in lead crystal decanters. Some other advise I found online (Gotta love google):

-Do not store alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages in crystal decanters - use decanters only for serving.
-Soak new crystal in vinegar for 24 hours and follow by a thorough rinsing before the first use to remove some of the surface lead.
-Do not wash crystal in a dishwasher as the harsh detergents can increase the release of lead.
-To reduce a child's exposure to lead, do not serve children drinks in crystal glasses or drink from crystal if you are pregnant.
-Limit the use of crystal to special occasions.

Hope that helps.

2007 Aug 5
Here's an update on what's happened:

* Bought the liqueur-sized (60 ml) ones at Stokes (box of 6). The "bowl" is the size and shape of an egg shell.
* Bought a lead test kit.
* Tested them and confirmed that they do not leach very high amounts of lead.
* Visited Kitchenalia to see those glasses "live" and didn't like them as much as the "Jumbo" ones (what I especially like is the perfectly vertical stem part).

Now I'm going to order the wine-sized ones online. Thanks for all your help folks!