"It is so light and thin to hold and just gives the wine that extra oomph of character on the palate. If the wine is light and elegant, it gives it an extra dimension of finesse. If the wine is powerful and rich, it gives it some extra meat. If the wine is fresh and fruity, it adds in some fluffy brightness. This glass shows the best on the palate than any other glass I have come across and when you take all aspects of the wine into account, it is my favorite, period."
Brad Baker, Gang of Pour Using only the highest quality raw materials and employing only the most skilled glassblowers in the region, each and every Zalto glass is hand-crafted and mouth-blown. This assures the technical perfect that is the basic guiding principle of the Zalto Glass House, and results in a glass that can stand beside those of the greatest glass artists of Venice.

At first glance, a Zalto glass seems nearly too delicate to hold, and yet it is actually quite durable due to advanced techniques and design. The glass is one piece from bowl to stem, with the base then attached. This differs from other glasses where the bowl is attached to the top of the stem, creating a weakness at that point. This, in conjunction with another element of the design, means that if the glass tips over it lands on it's strongest point- the curve of the bowl- and rarely breaks.

The line is produced by the Zalto Glasshutte in the town of Neunagelberg in Lower Austria, where the art of glass blowing goes back to the early 14th century.

The roots of the Zalto family, six generations now in this region, reach back to the famous glass artisans of Venice.

Their pursuit of perfection has continually raised the bar in the level of Austrian crystal work: a quality that has been recognized the world over for decades if not hundreds of years.

Every aspect in the design of the Zalto line has been made in the pursuit of creating the finest wine glass available. The curve of the bowl of each glass in the Zalto Denk'Art line are tilted at 24, 48 and 72 degrees, which correspond to the tilt angles of the Earth. As the ancient Romans knew, this triumvirate of angles, when used in vessels for food and drink, not only kept its contents fresher, but also improved the taste.

Further, the width of the bowl at the point of the curve is such that it allows for the greatest amount of surface space desired for the type of wine it is intended. A good swirl can be given at that point, and the shape then funnels the bouquet to the nose.

That the glass is lighter, thinner and more elegant in appearance is more than just an aesthetic ideal. It is that the lip of the glass is so thin that the wine is delivered better to the palate. The glass itself doesn't stand in the way of the taste of the wine. If you can imagine trying to sip a fine wine from a hefty beer mug, you can understand why this is so.

"We recently discovered Zalto Denk'Art glassware from Austria, whose elegant, eye-catching design first piqued our interest and whose dishwasher-safe performance won us over. These glasses allow us to swirl and view appealing whites and inhale the bold aromas of reds. If we use them every weekday for a year, we'll have upgraded every sip of wine we drink for just a few dimes a day."

-Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, The Washington Post, January 2, 2008

Dishwasher safe. In fact, dishwasher safer. Hand washing the glasses can actually be more risky as pressure from within the glass has a greater chance of causing breakage.

The glasses are resistant to clouding and scratching and in tests have remained crystal clear for over a hundred passes through the dishwasher.

In this way, you can feel free to use your Zalto glassware as your "everyday" glass as well as the glass for your best occasions.