• Alexander, Can you present yourself?

’m 26 years old and I founded Grassl Glass in October 2018. My family is in the hotel business and I started a wine trade company 5 years ago which lead me into the glass business

  • Why should I acquire Grassl when all my friends believe in Zalto? 

Grassl Glass is the most current designs adopted to the styles of wines today. Finer, less extracted, lower alcohol, less oaky, less buttery wines need a different glass, this being the reason why I started the company in the first place. All the existing brands highlight one particular component more than others - I believe a wine must showcase itself in a balanced form.

  • Why so many types of shapes with glasses? 

The vigneron series consists of 4 glasses + one decanter. I believe 4 shapes and 1 decanter is what a real pro wine drinker will need. You will not be able to showcase the full potential of different styles of wine with 1 shape. On the opposite - you will not be able to showcase that much more from a wine if you have 10+ different glasses. In short, I identified 4 styles of wines:

  • light white, rose, sparkling, sweet 
  • med to full bodied white, rose, sparkling, sweet 
  • ight bodied red
  • full bodied red
  • Why are the stems so long and fragile?

I think the stems are the right size to hold it comfortably. Treat and handle the glass right - it won’t break. 

  • How can choosing the wrong glassware can screw up the wine? 

You can manipulate the wine very easily by changing 1 parameter. For example, an obvious one is alcohol, you want to taste less alcohol, you serve the wine colder. You can do the same with glassware - too big of a surface will dilute certain wines. Too big openings might highlight too much acidity or alcohol and put fruit in the background etc.

  • Can you explain why you recommended the Cru model for La Fiorita?

I recommend the CRU model for la fiorita because you have balanced, elegant red wines. No components of the wines are highlighted.

  • How many glasses do you break a year?

I don’t have much data because we didn’t complete our second full year yet. It’s important to know that I handle around 200 different glasses a month - being at event, washing them with my girlfriend etc. this year we broke 5 glasses so far.