A Cheat Sheet to Glassware Materials

By WineBottleMag
March 3, 2026
Cheat Glassware Materials Sheet
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Far from being a mere delivery system for your Merlot or Manhattan, a well-made glass enhances the drinking experience by looking (and feeling) aesthetically pleasing. In addition to coming in different shapes and styles, stemware is crafted from all sorts of materials—each with its own benefits and drawbacks.

If you’ve been considering upping your glassware game but don’t know where to start, learn these glass types first. Below, sommeliers, bartenders, and other drinks professionals offer their takes on which to pick up—and when to use them.

Wine Enthusiast

The Glass Types in Wine Stemware, Explained

All glass is not created equally. Learn these common terms before you make your next purchase.

Machine-Made

The least expensive stemware is machine-made, where molten glass is poured or pressed into molds. While the resulting glassware is uniform and durable, it also tends to be thicker, with an unsightly seam and a telltale indentation on the bottom of the base.

“While machine-made glassware may not create the ideal aesthetics for an upscale wine tasting, it ensures you get a consistent sip, especially when comparing wines,” says Jim Pennella, owner of Farang Wine and Harmony School Vineyard, in Napa.

Machine-Blown

A step up is machine-blown, which uses an automation process to mimic glassblowing techniques, rendering a lighter, more refined glass. Riedel’s glassware is machine blown, as are Wine Enthusiast’s Pirouette and Vienna glasses.

Austin Bridges, wine director of Nostrana in Portland, Oregon, loves the shape of the Gabriel-Glas StandArt glass, which is machine-blown from one piece of crystal without joints, seams, or glue.

“It showcases any wine beautifully from Champagne to an aged Barolo, plus it’s incredibly durable.” Moreover, its seamless design makes it more prone to chipping rather than fully breaking, making it unsightly but still usable.

Mouth-Blown and Handblown

Mouth-blown or handblown stemware (the two terms are used interchangeably) lie on the more artisanal side of the glassware spectrum. These are made by blowing air into molten glass and shaping it by hand. Zalto’s glassware, which is considered to be top of the line, is mouth-blown into molds.

“This is a handmade process,” says Anna-Christina Cabrales, Tasting Director at Wine Enthusiast. Mouth-blown glasses can take almost any shape, and no two pieces are the same—each is unique.”

Glassware that’s handmade may be adorned with intricate designs. That means it comes with a hefty price tag—a consideration if you’re running a busy wine bar, frequently entertaining at home, or are just accident-prone.

Crystal

Stemware choices don’t stop at the production method. Though people often use the term crystal as a synonym for glass, the phrase actually refers to a specific kind of glass that contains added minerals, often lead oxide.

This lends a sparkly appearance that enhances the clarity, strength, and durability of the glass, and enables drinkers to see the wine within more easily. Lead-free alternatives like barium, zinc, or potassium retain the same attributes but are even more durable and can withstand being cleaned in the dishwasher.

Lead-free crystal is the gold standard for high-end wine glasses because of how thin it can be made. “Crystal’s thin walls and ultra-thin rims allow wine to flow freely over your palate to assess the flavor of the wine fully,” Pennella says.

Borosilicate

Borosilicate glasses, which contain silica and boron trioxide, are another dishwasher-safe option. This is a thin, durable glass—often used in lab equipment and in the original Pyrex products—that will not crack as easily when exposed to the heat of a drying cycle.

Break-Resistant

If glassware is labeled as break-resistant or shatter-resistant, it means it’s produced from a material that makes it less prone to breakage.

Unbreakable Glasses

While a crystal glass might be instantly destroyed if it’s knocked over on the counter, a shatter-resistant one may withstand that kind of fumble.

Finally, unbreakable “glasses” aren’t actually made of glass at all, but a copolyester plastic. Those crafted from Eastman Tritan copolyester (what Wine Enthusiast uses for its Brilliance line) are strong, easily malleable, and extremely durable, as well as FDA-approved and BPA-free.

Choosing the Right Glass Type

No matter the material, beverage pros cite one sought-after characteristic that makes for a “perfect” glass: how it performs when you drink from it.

“The main thing that affects the drinking experience is the thickness of the glassware,” says Jeff Cleveland, general manager of Birch, in Milwaukee. “The thinner the lip, the nicer it feels.”

This is where production methods come into play. “The thinner glass walls and differing shapes of mouth-blown glassware may affect how we perceive aromas,” Pennella says.

So, out of the dizzying array of stemware on the market, how do you know which is right for you?

Pennella believes it’s situational. He suggests machine-made glassware that meets ISO standards for comparative tastings (these vessels are made from crystal, hold around 7 ounces of liquid, are six inches tall and around 2.5 inches wide) and mouth-blown crystal (lead or lead-free) for a more elevated experience. If you’re sipping wine by the pool, beach, or windy location, go for break-resistant or borosilicate, which, he says, has the added benefit of maintaining temperature.

If you’re a clumsy butterfingers but don’t want a clunky, thick stem, Bridges touts a seamless, thin-rimmed crystal machine-blown glass. “Glasses with seams tend to snap right at the seam during polishing or if they’re set down a bit too firmly, he says.”

When sourcing glasses for his contemporary Midwestern restaurant, Cleveland considers durability as well as aesthetics, because a delicate, thin-rimmed glass is no good if its time on the shelf is fleeting thanks to rough handling or easy breakage. For these reasons, he’s partial to Riedel’s Restaurant series, which is elegant without being too fragile.

Beau du Bois, vice president of bar and spirits at Roma Norte in San Diego, thinks about what he calls “the path of the glass,” meaning where the vessel is stored during service, where it goes once the guest has finished sipping, and how it’s cleaned—a philosophy that can be adopted by the home bartender. “It’s best to consider all these factors before getting your heart set on that new Zalto tulip, no matter how sexy it is.”

Benjamin, a steakhouse in New York, recently switched to the break-resistant Vienna glass line from Wine Enthusiast for its wine and water service. This move has helped them balance performance with aesthetics. “Our day to day breakage is a third less than with our previous line of stemware, plus the bigger sized bowls look elegant and stunning on the table,” says Albert Belegu, the restaurant’s general manager.

Oenophiles planning on conducting serious wine tastings should consider glasses that balance durability with thinness. Sometimes, one glass isn’t enough. Cabrales advises investing in at least one pair of glasses with a good proportion of crystal, plus something more durable.

“I want to have a sophisticated delivery into the mouth and overall feeling in the hand,” she says. “At home, I have two sets of stemware: those that help me get friends who are just starting into wine, and high-end ones that impress my nerdy wine friends. It’s all about style.”