Cheers to a Better Wine Glass
What you spend on stemware isn't the issue. You can get a decent glass for under $10, or you can pay as much as $70 a glass. But whatever you spend, wineglasses should meet this criteria:
- Make them clear: A wine glass must be clear glass, the thinner the better. Colored glass looks festive, and cut crystal sparkles. But both detract from seeing the actual color of the wine, which is part of the appreciation.
- No fat lips: The top edge of the glass should be fine, and not have a rolled lip, as if it's just had a collagen injection. A bulge on the rim keeps the wine from flowing out of the glass smoothly. Worse, it screams: Cheap glass!
- Get a grip: You want stems. These keep you from pawing the bowl, which messes with the temperature and gets fingerprints all over, making the wine harder to see clearly.
- Bottom heavy is good: Contrary to the ideal female figure, the ideal glass base should be larger than its top, or pear shaped. So no megaphone shaped wineglasses. Champagne glasses are the exception. For these you want a narrow, tapered flute, so bubbles last.
- Room for slosh and schnozz: The glass should be large enough to hold an ample pour when the glass is one-third full. This lets you swirl the glass vigorously without splashing wine on your shirt, and also lets you stick your schnozz inside to get a full whiff.
- Wash once, rinse twice: Some wine purists believe in washing glasses with only water. Soap can leave a residue which will affect the taste, they argue. Some compromise and wash only the outside of the glass with soap, not the inside. Personally, I'm a fan of soap and water. Wash glasses (by hand if they're expensive) with a mild detergent, and rinse super well. You don't want that first aroma to carry overtones of berry and lemon-scented Joy. Hand dry without twisting.
- Right side up: When storing glasses, don't set them upside down, that can chip the all-precious rim and trap odors.
- What's in a name? Any search of quality wine glasses will lead to Riedel (rhymes with needle), the Chateau Laffite Rothschild of the wineglass world, or to Spiegelau, a company Riedel bought several years ago.
Both companies offer affordable stemware for as low as $7 a glass. The Reidel Vinum line, available at Bed Bath & Beyond and Williams & Sonoma, runs for $20 to $25 a glass. Reidel's top Sommelier line costs $60 to $100 a stem. Any quality difference would be lost on me. I just know that if I bought a $70 wine glass and broke it, I'd curse louder than if I broke a $7 glass.
- Don't rely on towels to provide bathroom pizzazz: People often buy colored towels to jazz up a bathroom, but towels shouldn't be the focal point any more than toilet paper should be. Add punch and drama with wall color, fixtures, art, mirror frames and accessories. Let the towels be white.
- Fabric is key to function: Look for high grade, combed cotton with double-turned edges. Avoid synthetics. Higher grade cottons (Egyptian, Supima, Turkish) have a long staple, or fiber, so last longer and absorb more. Combed cotton has had the shorter threads removed, so towels don't pill or cover you with lint. Edges should be double turned and double stitched to prevent fraying.
- Dense loops equal thirsty towels: Most towels are terry, meaning they have loops. Look for tightly woven loops that stand up straight like grass. You shouldn't see the base of the towel. Velour towels feel nice, but aren't as thirsty.
- Don't be a sucker for softness: Many people buy towels for how soft they feel in the store. Manufacturers know this and coat towels with sizing to achieve that silky feel. Sizing, however, repels water, so towels push water around on your skin. After several washings, sizing comes out -- a good thing -- but towels feel coarser, leaving you feeling deceived. Adding vinegar to the rinse cycle helps cut through sizing. Never add fabric softener.
- Too much of a good thing: Thick towels feel luxurious, but towels can be too thick. Thick towels get heavy, take longer to dry, and hog shelf space. Find a happy medium. My criteria: A towel shouldn't be so thick that you can't dry inside your ears.
- Cover your bottom line: When buying bath towels open them for size. They run from 27 x 50 to 40 x 70 and many sizes in between. If you're taller or larger than average, you may prefer a bath sheet. Select a size right for your body, erring toward generous. It should wrap you and cover the basics.
- Resist adornment: Though it's tempting to buy embellished, patterned towels, if you stick to plain, you can always mix sets and have pieces match. Or add your own adornment -- tie pretty ribbons around the towels, which you can change with the season.
- If you must display fancy towels, go ahead: Just don't use them. I have trophy towels -- spice colored, satin embellished -- in my master bath, where my family is under orders not to touch them.
Marni Jameson is a nationally syndicated home design columnist, and author of the best-selling The House Always Wins. Marni's hugely popular syndicated column, "At Home With Marni Jameson," appears in more than 30 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada reaching 7 million readers each week.
Though her column is humorous as well as helpful, Marni shares her serious side in some of the nation's most prestigious print media. A long time writer for the Los Angeles Times (more than 200 features), she also writes for other top-tier media, including Woman's Day, Family Circle, Child, and Fit Pregnancy. She has been a guest on numerous television and radio programs around the country.
Whether she's writing about rescuing Romanian orphans, urging better diagnostic testing for breast cancer, living with AIDS, making better real estate decisions, getting in shape, or being a better parent, Marni hopes that through her work, others will live better, longer and help those who need help.
Jameson graduated with distinction from the University of Kansas, William Allen White School of Journalism, consistently rated one of the top journalism schools in the country. She later received her master's degree in writing from Vermont College, and taught writing at UCLA for nine years.
She lives outside Denver, Colorado, with her husband, two daughters, two dogs and one horse.
For more information, visit www.marnijameson.com
About the book:
In her new book HOUSE OF HAVOC: How to Make and Keep a Beautiful Home Despite Cheap Spouses, Messy Kids, and Other Difficult Roommates is all about how to make your house your sanctuary. Even with kids running around and pet hair everywhere, there are simple things you can do to make your home your own.
