The Auswine Forum

They are the carbon fibre of wine glasses.

maybs wrote: I've even got a few of them converted to the idea of drinking champagne out of them, which freaked them out at first

The Zalto Champagne glasses are pretty damn good too...

In general I dislike normal Champagne flutes...I'd rather use a large red wine bowl than a thin flute...I'd probably rather use a dixie cup...
White wine glasses work well
Spiegelau Hybrid Champagne glasses are also very good (the whole Hybrid line is sort of a copy of Zaltos...roughly).

As TiggerK said..they're really strong as well...they're not that strong at the stem (which is where you will probably break one if you do) but overall they're quite tough...

If anyone had any concerns about how tough they are...Check this out..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkv4_mUv-vs

Polymer wrote:If anyone had any concerns about how tough they are...Check this out..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkv4_mUv-vs

Wow...sign me up!

Agreed Polymer, I broke one at the stem trying to foolishly hand wash it. Otherwise they are quite robust.

Nice video link, yep that's me at parties! (not really)

They should only be cleaned in a good dishwasher (so say Zalto). Handwashing is asking for trouble as any real pressure applied from the inside out is not going to end well.

TiggerK wrote:Nice video link, yep that's me at parties! (not really)

They should only be cleaned in a good dishwasher (so say Zalto). Handwashing is asking for trouble as any real pressure applied from the inside out is not going to end well.

I wholeheartedly agree having learnt the hard way. And I am not worried about putting them in the dishwasher at work now I have trained the office juniors to recognize them as mine and return them immediately to me

And fwiw I hand wash mine every time as I don't have a dishwasher. As long as you cup the bowl with your hand and not the stem as your pivot point you should be fine.

Tried the digestive with sake and Cognac, both amazing, the nose aroma is just unbelievable.
Cant wait to use other glasses ( white wine, universal, Bordeaux ) with Chardonnay and red wines.
Cheers Boyeah

Thanks Gavin. Got to try out my new universals last night. I see what everyone is talking about. So light and beautiful in the hand.

Thanks Gavin. 4 of these babies. Extremely well packed and I think I may have to splash on some Universals for everyday drinking.

Cheers
Ian

A bit late to the Zalto party, picked up some of the burgundy glasses specifically for Nebbiolo and aged Hunter Shiraz...

First test was a side-by-side comparison (for science) of a 1999 Cigliuti Serraboella Barbaresco, one glass being the Zalto Burgundy, the other being a Riedel Vinum Shiraz.

As far as the tactile sensation of the glass goes, you can barely compare them, the Riedel feels chunky and heavy in comparison with the Zalto. On the nose, the Riedel appeared to be quite muted, whereas the Zalto really brought out the floral aspect of the wine, giving a far richer range of aromas. Likewise on the palate, the Barbaresco was singing, bright and complex from the Zalto, and just showed as being nice out of the Riedel.

It was quite shocking to me the difference between these glasses, would be very curious to compare a Riedel Burgundy glass with the Zalto now.

I definitely think Zaltos bring out more of the nose...but I've also seen them accentuate the alcohol as well...

I've had a number of wines show better in a different glass side by side with a Zalto...but overall I think more wines show just as good or better in a Zalto and since I have no idea ahead of time which will show better in which, I'll take the one that performs/outperforms most of the time. But even if it performed 100% the same as a different glass...they're just enjoyable to use. They make everything else feel clunky/chunky....to me that is why they're addicting to use and have basically ruined other glasses for me...

There are a number of glasses out there with a similar shape to the Zaltos..and they perform pretty much the same/similar...and they're considerably cheaper (in some cases maybe 10-15% of the price) but they also tend to be a lot thicker and clunky. They're not junky glasses by any means and are probably great for guests, etc where you don't have to worry about them breaking the glass...Or for people who are worried about using their Zaltos....

I think I may have said this before, but I drink Aussie shiraz out of Riedel shiraz glasses, they are the best for this. Polymer you are right, the Zalto Bordeaux accentuates the alcohol too much. But for just about every other wine, I think the Zalto is way out in front.

Zaltos burgundy glass is performing magic on Chardonnays, thanks Gavin for your tip.
The aperitif glass is also good with Sake or even some Cognac
Universal is an excellent all rounder
Couldn't imagine without those babes!
Cheers Boyeah

I was in the Wachau Valley for a few days and spent a bit of time with Rudi Pichler. Rudi makes some of the best wines in the Valley that don't strut their stuff for 10+ years and are comfortable 40-50 year propositions.

Anyways, he has had Zalto custom make a riesling glass that you can buy. I like it a lot having previously used the tasting Zalto which was cumbersome.

These look like a cross between the Zalto Universal and the Gabriel

Looks just like a Universal...
Zalto whites are very nice too...but not sure they're any different for whites than the Universal...

I like Rudi Pichler as well .

I broke a Bordeaux the other night hand washing. Be careful folks.

There's quite a difference between the Pichler riesling glass and the Universal. The angle is greater toward the centre which gives more aromatic precision . Ideal for smaragd riesling and champagne too evidently !

My zalto bordeux 's arrived this morning and man, are they sexy. Cant wait too give them a run tonight
Thanks gavin ..

Hunter wrote:My zalto bordeux 's arrived this morning and man, are they sexy. Cant wait too give them a run tonight
Thanks gavin ..

I too have just received some Zaltos from Gavin (Bordeaux and Burgundy) - on the strength of the discussion in this thread! And yes, they are so delicate compared to my previous favourite, the Riedel Vinum XL.

But I am terrified about washing them. How do you wash them without the risk of a breakage? And how could you possibly put them in a dishwasher?

You will want to use a dishwasher..just make sure they're not going to move around in there...That is the recommended way from Zalto....

Also, if you look at all of the times these get broken, it is almost always from handwashing..I think a few people have broken some in a dishwasher because the glasses weren't secured but really that is the best way to go...

If you're going to handwash...don't hold them by the stem....

For me, I try to use the dishwasher but there are times when that doesn't make sense (don't have time to wait). Make sure they're not near any other things and that they fit comfortably in the rack.....

They're actually pretty strong overall...but the stem is a weak spot for sure..

WAwineguy wrote:

Hunter wrote:My zalto bordeux 's arrived this morning and man, are they sexy. Cant wait too give them a run tonight
Thanks gavin ..

I too have just received some Zaltos from Gavin (Bordeaux and Burgundy) - on the strength of the discussion in this thread! And yes, they are so delicate compared to my previous favourite, the Riedel Vinum XL.

But I am terrified about washing them. How do you wash them without the risk of a breakage? And how could you possibly put them in a dishwasher?

My pleasure.

BTW I wash all my Zaltos in the dishwasher, safe as can be (if you have a good dishwasher, of course).

Never damaged one.

Hand washing tho', so risky!

.

How do you fit them in the dishwasher though? Are you guys using the bottom shelf?

daver6 wrote:How do you fit them in the dishwasher though? Are you guys using the bottom shelf?

Chose our dishwasher BECAUSE it held long stemmed wine glasses successfully, was the key criteria, along with high quality.

Works a treat.

CAN use the bottom rack, but must be careful that the glasses don't move or roll around.

.

Coincidently, we did a blind-folded tasting with an Australian pinot and a Burgundy using a Riedel burgundy and another burgundy glass and Zalto Universals.

Zaltos won hands down on all occasions. A guest who isn't that into wine, noted that wine out of the Zalto had a noticeably better aroma, even when I did a switcheroo of the glass numbers between the first and second smelling series of the one wine.

Totally unscientific but very compelling evidence to only have one glass in the cupboard.

Well, I think Zaltos generally emphasize the nose better..but that isn't always a good thing...I find that it emphasizes alcohol more...and in some wines, getting a bit of "outside" air is actually better for the overall nose....

I think Zaltos are great...They're the main ones I use...but there are plenty of times a different glass will outperform it on the nose for any given wine....but what really pushes it over the hump for me is the Zaltos just feel great using..forgetting about how it performs for a wine, they're just enjoyable to use and they make all my other glasses feel like big thick goblets...So in a way, I agree...pretty much my other glasses are just sitting there purely used for experimental purposes of me trying different wines in them to try to find some sort of correlation as far as which wines perform better in them...but to be honest, that's getting old and Zaltos are just becoming what I bother with because, while it might not be the best for everything, it is pretty good for nearly everything...

I see what you're saying. We also had a Pet Nat and it was outstanding for that too.

I'll keep the Glencairns for the spirits though

Gavin Trott wrote:

daver6 wrote:How do you fit them in the dishwasher though? Are you guys using the bottom shelf?

Chose our dishwasher BECAUSE it held long stemmed wine glasses successfully, was the key criteria, along with high quality.

Works a treat.

CAN use the bottom rack, but must be careful that the glasses don't move or roll around.

.

Hmmm, tried out the dishwasher last night. Passed the first test - they didn't break!

But unfortunately the glasses dried with water spots on the sides. This may be a problem with water quality, or the particular dishwasher. For this test I used a Fisher & Paykel single drawer dishwasher (may need to try the Miele next, though the racking isn't as supportive of these delicate glasses).

Can anyone shed some light on which is the perfect brand dishwasher for wine glasses, and how do you place them in the racks (eg, suspended by the stem, lying down in the side, etc)?

Cheers!

WAwineguy wrote:Hmmm, tried out the dishwasher last night. Passed the first test - they didn't break!

But unfortunately the glasses dried with water spots on the sides.

To avoid this, run a hotter water setting and open the dishwasher as soon as the cycle finishes for the crystal clear 'steam dry' look.

Rinse aid will also assist in avoiding water drops as glasses dry.