The object: the Zalto Universal glass
Mouth-blown by hand and made to get out of the wine's way. At €47.10 the Zalto Universal is a lot for a glass, and the only one you may ever need.
You can spend a long time learning about wine and very little time thinking about what you drink it from. That’s a pity, because a glass is one of the few things in a cellar you buy once and use every time. If you only ever own one serious wine glass, make it this one.
Why this one
Zalto is a glassmaker based in Gmünd, Austria, and its Denk’Art range was conceived by the wine expert Hans Denk. The company says each glass is mouth-blown by hand, using a wooden mould and techniques over 2,000 years old, and that only a few of its most experienced glassblowers can make them. Zalto’s stated aim is for the glass to take a back seat to the wine, through what it calls weightlessness. Its own website collects a good deal of praise from sommeliers and critics, which you may take with the usual pinch of salt, though one quote on the site names restaurants such as The French Laundry and Per Se among those using them.
There are Denk’Art shapes for Burgundy, Bordeaux, white wine, Champagne, even beer and water. You don’t need them all. The Universal stands 235mm tall and holds a little over half a litre (Zalto’s shop says 530ml, its product page 555ml), which puts it between the Bordeaux at 765ml and the White Wine at 400ml. Zalto recommends it for expressive, medium to full-bodied wines, and names Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Chardonnay, Chianti and complex sparkling wines. That range is the argument. It’s the shape to buy if you want one glass for the whole table, red or white, which is why we’d start here and very possibly stop.
What it costs
On Zalto’s own shop the Universal is €47.10 for one glass and €275.40 for a pack of six, including VAT. The shop prices in euros, so check delivery and any import charges at the checkout if you’re ordering to the UK.
That’s a lot for something so delicate. Zalto says all its products can go in the dishwasher if you follow its care advice, and that polishing by hand is the most frequent cause of breakage, so put the cloth down. Buy two first. Use them with a bottle you already enjoy, and see whether they earn the other four. Our guide to ordering wine will help you find the bottle.
A big glass is for the wine’s benefit, not an invitation to fill it. Pour a third of the way up at most and let the air do its work. The point of owning something this good is that you can drink better, not more.
How we chose: prices, sizes and details of how the glass is made are from Zalto’s own website and shop, read on 3 November 2026. The glass was not handled, and no wine was tasted, for this piece, and the photograph shows a wine glass for illustration, not a Zalto. The opinions are ours, and nobody paid to appear here. For people of legal drinking age: please drink responsibly.
