ZALTO GLASSWARE

What the Critics are saying:

Francois Mauss, President of the ‘Grand Jury European’: “I didn’t think that there would be anything better on the glass-market....this glass is.”

Jamie Goode, The Sunday Express, UK: “I’ve recently come across another glass manufacturer whose glasses I really love: Zalto. These are truly beautiful hand blown glasses that are amazingly light and delicate, yet quite flexible and resilent too.”

Fiona Beckett, www.matchingfoodandwine.com: “Lovely to handle – featherlight, very fine-rimmed and curiously flexible...compared to the Riedel Sommelier range they’re very reasonably priced.”

Our notes:

Key points about Zalto glasses:

•    Zalto is an astonishing new range of mouth-blown glasses from one of Austria’s finest small glass blowing houses.
•    They are lead oxide free which results in a lighter and more flexible glass that does not leach lead and will not cloud in the dishwasher.
•    Despite their remarkable lightness and ultra fine edges, they are highly elastic and resilient. They can be washed in a dishwasher and are made for daily use.
•    They have been designed to maximise the aromas and flavours of the world’s beverages by Austrian wine guru Hans Denk.
•    Hand blown crystal of this quality is never cheap however, Zalto are far less expensive than Riedel Sommelier (the equivalent Riedel range). In fact they are typically less than half the price.
•    Zalto glasses work – they have recently topped the most comprehensive and thorough international testing of wine stemware against all comers. The judging panel was extremely experienced and included George Riedel himself!

Below we offer the incredible Zalto “Denk-Art” wine glasses: mouth-blown Austrian glasses of a quality we have never before encountered. These remarkably beautiful glasses are made from led-free crystal which results in a surreal lightness and an unexpected durability. They do not cloud with repeated dishwater usage (we have been testing them for a year) and they are very flexible (the secret to their surprising strength). These are not simply objects d’art to be admired from a distance but are also very functional glasses that can be used every day. From the moment you pick one of these glasses up, the beauty, the finesse and the balance of the glass in the hand speaks of the quality of the craftsmanship and the lead-free crystal from which they are made. They are wonderful glasses to taste from as they were designed specifically for this purpose by Austrian wine expert Hans Denk who started with a vision to produce the ultimate wine tasting glasses. Denk is one of Austria’s most revered wine tasters.

When designing the glasses Denk came upon the idea of utilising the same angles of the tilt of earth’s axis which resulted in a range of glasses that were not only strikingly original to look at but also allowed a very wide bowl width, in turn enabling optimum surface space for a particular style of wine. The angular shape of the glasses also means that if a Zalto glass is knocked over, it tends to hit the strongest part of the glass first. Interestingly, these angles were used by the Romans to design food storage vessels as it enabled produce to stay fresher for longer periods and to taste better. We cannot verify whether or not the Romans got this right (although let’s agree that they tended to get more things of this nature right than wrong) however we can say that the glasses that were inspired by this claim are truly brilliant in both form and function!

In December 2009 Stern magazine of Germany, conducted what all agree was the most comprehensive and independent testing thus far of the world’s finest wine stemware. They invited all of the most important quality glassware producers (Orrefors, Riedel, Zwiezel, Lobmeyer, etc) to submit their finest glasses and they also invited them to join the professional judging panel which subsequently included key representatives from all of the glassware producers (including George Riedel himself). The testing was in ‘blind’ conditions with judges blindfolded and wearing gloves. The whole exercise was overseen by a high magistrate that had taken time from the bench in order to ensure the proceedings were fair and balanced. The judges tasted three wines out of 10 different glasses and the results were conclusive: 1. Zalto glasses came first in all three wine style categories. 2 The top nine glasses were mouth blown, reaffirming the general view that machine made glasses don’t compete and 3. All top nine glasses were produced from lead free crystal! Read the article here. It was a remarkably comprehensive result for Zalto and one that has been borne out by our own 12 month trials in Australian conditions. We recommend these beautiful glasses, carafes and decanters to you without reservation. They are certainly the finest glassware that we have encountered.