I’ve found another great wine glass to use on a boat! Â About a month ago, Cruising Solutions sent me two of these GSI Stemless Wine Glasses to review, and I find myself reaching for them all the time. Â Cruising Solutions is a TBG sponsor and is owned by cruisers, so they really understand what cruisers need and what works well on the boat.
- Note: The clear glasses are not currently available at Amazon or Cruising Solutions; links go to stainless “glasses.” Except for the material, the other features remain the same–unbreakable, easy to hold shape, etc.
So why do I like these so much?
- They’re a nice heavy plastic that’s pretty unbreakable. Â While I’m sure that given the exact right conditions, one could crack or break, I’ve dropped one onto concrete and it didn’t break. Â It’s BPA-free and recyclable.
- The material is thick enough that the glass feels solid, and the lip is nice to drink from. Â It doesn’t feel like a Red Solo Cup or a throwaway.
- At 3.1 inches diameter at the widest point, they fit into standard drink holders. Â Very few stemless wine glasses do.
- The design is easy to hold — that “bump” towards the bottom is just designed for a hand. Â I’ve dropped a number of stemless wine glasses that have very smooth sides (that’s one of my biggest complaints about them) and have never dropped one of these.
- GSI calls that bump a “kickstand” and says that it keeps the glass from tipping over if you set it down on an uneven surface, say at a beach party or on a picnic table. Â I’ve accidentally set one half on a kitchen towel as I was filling them, and yep, it didn’t tip over. Â That’s a really nice feature when on a boat!
- The glass is wider at the bottom, making them a lot less tippy than a stemmed wine glass.
- Nice size. Â I don’t like wine glasses that hold really large volumes, as we end up drinking more without realizing it (read more about this). Â Filled to the rim, these hold 10 ounces (the tag on the glass says 2.1 ounces; it’s the weight of the glass for backpackers). Â Filling it half full gives a serving of 5 ounces — perfect!
- Very clear plastic — they just plain look nice. Â Wash them (and any other plastic glasses) in cool water to keep them from getting cloudy.
- Double duty: Â they’re a great size to use also as juice glasses and the same easy grip is important there.
Where to buy the GSI Stemless Wine Glass:
Be sure to read about DEET and Plastics if you have plastic glasses.
Here’s your “Quick Start” to everything you need to know when living on a boat:
Mark and Cindy - s/v Cream Puff says
Hi Carolyn,
First and foremost, I love your site and book. Top notch advice and stuff.
I have to chime in here. I do not understand the American obsession with wine glasses. In fact, isn’t a glass a glass. Wine taste the same from a stemmed tall crystal flute as it does from a mason jar. I once watched with interest a dinner companion asked a waiter for a large red wine glass to replace the glass on the table and state they just refuse to drink red wine from a white wine glass.
Being European, wine was a part of our dinner table for as long back as I can remember. The preferred glass was always a small straight glass (what Americans would call a juice glass). Inheritably, this stayed with me in life. We have only two choices of glass on Cream Puff, large or small. Sorry, but I do not see the need to take up valuable galley storage space for specialty glasses.
When guests are invited aboard for a glass of wine, we have never had anyone complain about the glass we served it in. After all, it is the wine that matters, not the glass.
Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff
http://www.creampuff.us
Carolyn Shearlock says
Some people want separate wine glasses, others don’t. It’s funny but the wine and wine glass articles are amongst the most-read posts here. I think that lots of people have always had a dream about sitting on their boat, watching the sunset, and having a nice glass of wine. And then they start thinking about the glasses, how to store the wine, and so on . . .
Bev says
Actually……the glass DOES matter. Having done a wine tasting with variatel specific glasses from Reidel, I was amazed at the difference. The glass is designed to hit the mouth in such a way that the wine is delivered to the optimal area of the mouth.
In saying that, we have drunk wine even out of mugs lol.
On our boat we have 4 white wine glasses and 2 red but also have plastic and thermal style. You do you.
Roland says
Just a note on ordering these from Amazon. The shipping is indeed 6.99 for one glass but when I put 4 in the cart the shipping cost remained at 6.99 which makes them much more reasonable. I’ve found that for many small items sold through Amazon the sellers will combine the shipping weights on orders of multiples which can result in dramatic savings.
Love The Boat Galley! Thanks for all the great suggestions!
Carolyn Shearlock says
That’s great to hear! For years, Amazon didn’t combine shipping costs for the third-party sellers and that was one of my big gripes. Actually, I think a lot of people griped about it — nice to know that they changed how it works!
Yvonne Miller says
Do these glass stack?
Yvonne Miller says
Thank you for your prompt response! I appreciate all of your tips.
The Boat Galley says
Not really. You can put one on top of another, but since the top is smaller than the bottom, they don’t really fit inside each other. Here’s a photo:
Diane Dashevsky says
Carolyn –
Sorry, Teacher/Editor hat on here…the WEIGHT OF THE GLASS is 2.2 oz – not the volume – Thank Heavens! Can’t imagine (nor do I want to) only drinking 2.2 oz of wine! LOL! 🙂
Carolyn Shearlock says
Duh! I saw the 2.2 ounce marked on the tag and it never dawned on me that it was the weight of the glass. Every wine glass that I’ve ever seen has been labeled with the volume of the glass, not its weight! Hmm, I guess backpackers would care about the weight, and GSI makes a lot of gear for backpackers.
Robin Mangione says
Carolyn,
I bought two of these glasses for my husband for Christmas before we moved aboard Sea Change full time at the end of February. I must say that they are now my favorite!. I have managed to avoid several spills with these. They are smaller than the stemless ware that we used to use. They clean up easily and still look good.
Robin Mangione
s/v Sea Change
Charlie Adams says
Remember the jelly jars that later became juice glasses?
Liz says
Hey, our wine glasses used to be Braswell’s jelly jars!
David says
Where are they made?
Thanks
Carolyn Shearlock says
I don’t know, other than it says “imported.”
Anne Roberts says
Aren’t they soft to handle ?
Allan Cobb says
We are switching to these.
Wine Me Up Silicone Wine Glasses
Jude LunnSwarts says
Ladies love them – no more spilt wine!
saundra says
Hello, We are seeking stemless, dishwasher safe beverage ware to fit into the wells of Party Barge/Boats. We also hope to have our Logo “etched” on. They should hold around 12 oz each. The Govino ones I’ve seen are very flimsy feeling, we want something that has a bit of heft.
Advise please? Want to order a few dozen ASAP.
Ssca Mod says
The link doesn’t work, but the glasses are still sold by Cruising Solutions.