Is this the finest wine glass ever made?

It’s received wisdom in the fine dining world that heavier equals higher quality – but the featherlight Zalto wine glass changed all that when it launched in the early 2000s. With its wide bowl and aroma-focusing straight sides made from handblown glass of hair-raising fragility, the Austrian design allowed oenophiles to get intimate with their wine like never before. “It brings the drinker as close as possible to the wine without getting in the way,” says Noble Rot co-founder Mark Andrews.

While its competitor Riedel prescribed a range of designs for different wines, Zalto made its calling card the one-size-fits-all Universal. Today that £50 glass is used by top restaurants including Per Se and French Laundry in the US, Mugaritz in Spain and 18 of the 29 three-Michelin-starred restaurants in France. And it’s become the prop-masters’ go-to for monied epicureans, with cameos in Succession and Homeland and The Menu.

When the Zalto supply ran dry during the pandemic, it caused consternation in the trade. “People were drinking more fine wine at home and enquiries jumped 100 per cent,” says Zalto’s general manager Christoph Hinterleitner. The shortfall forced bars and restaurants to diversify. And there are now some very decent lookalikes by other brands. 

The Wine Glass by Richard Brendon was designed in collaboration with FT wine columnist Jancis Robinson. The versatile design is a touch curvier, and shorter, than a Zalto – I think it’s at its best with really special champagnes (£85 for two). The Spiegelau Definition Universal is a few grams heavier and doesn’t handle quite as finely – but it’s almost half the price (£50 for two) and indistinguishable to the untrained eye.

Zaltos are beautiful, but they are extremely high-maintenance. They don’t do swigging or cheers-ing or picnics (for the latter, you need Govino – an unbreakable range of polymer vessels – £19.95 for four). They go in the dishwasher but don’t take kindly to being hand-dried. They’re more suited to serious appreciation than fun.

And not everyone is in love with the glass with the sky-high stem – in NYC the stubby “tavern” or “bistro” glass is apparently having a resurgence thanks to more casual drinking.

Oxford University’s head of cross-modal research, professor Charles Spence, has spent a lot of time studying the way wine glasses impact our perception of quality. “It is important to recognise that the difference you are paying for appears to reside mainly in your mind,” he says, “rather than in the headspace over the liquid in your glass!”

In other words, if you think you’re having a better time drinking out of a Zalto, then you almost certainly are. 

@alicelascelles