The stemless wine glass

Summation of Maximilian Riedel´s new line of wineglasses: Oh, my - or, more appropriately - "O" my.

The line has raised the wine world´s eyebrows. - The stem is missing.

Wine purists are accustomed to picking up a wineglass by the foot or the base rather than the bowl so as not to warm the wine with their hands. Maximilian Riedel believes it´s time to lighten up. Riedel, who lives in Hoboken, came up with the idea for "O" based on his personal needs.

"I would drive home dreaming of what wine I would serve with dinner," says Maximilian, smiling. As with any wine and food professional, dinner is an important event of the day. But as with any busy young person, he did not want to stand over the sink cleaning fine crystal by hand. Nor did he want to use just any old wineglass.

What is a glassmaker to do?

Riedel decided to design a more casual glass. Not so strange a decision, given his family´s penchant for innovative glass design.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, ninth-generation Claus J. Riedel, who conceived the notion that the shape of a wineglass could affect the taste of wine, and his father, Georg J. Riedel, who popularized the concept, Maximilian created a new vessel sans the stem.

He presented the glass to Georg. Together they tasted a few first-growth bordeaux like Château La Tâche and Château Margaux in the glass. They tried other wines. "Nothing tasted good in this glass," Maximilian concluded. "We even tried beers, and that didn´t work either."

He went back to the drawing board and returned with the "O" series, this time using the same bowl shape as the Vinum series. The shapes were already proven, and without the stem, these glasses could go into the dishwasher, and they store like a dream. They cost about half as much as Riedel Vinum glasses. The lower price plus a 15 percent discount on the purchase price of the special limited edition pink "O" glasses made them more affordable. Note: A portion of the profits from the limited-edition pinks is donated to LBBC.org to fight breast cancer.

There are seven lines of Riedel glassware. The Sommeliers series is the top of the line, as they are mouth-blown and handcrafted. The other series are the "O" (stemless), Ouverture (lead-free glassware for beginners with generic wine and bar glasses such as red, white and champagne), Vinum (the first of the machine-made series that is varietal specific), and the Restaurant Series, a more durable line of Riedel that is sold only to restaurants.

Depending on the line, you can purchase a stem for $10 to $120. Maximilian suggests you select your glass by the average price you spend for a bottle of wine, so a $10 bottle deserves a $10 glass, a $20 bottle deserves a $20 glass, and so on.

If you see the Riedel insignia in block letters at the foot of the glass, you know that it is a machine-made product; if the trademark is in script, you´re sipping from a mouth-blown, hand-made crystal. It takes 25 Riedel craftsmen to produce one hand-blown stem, which explains the price difference.

Riedel glasses are available at crystal and china departments, selected wine shops and online at surlatable.com.