Choosing the perfect wine glass -- call
it "$12 tops"

Glasses in every price range have
one thing in common --they break

"Time to buy another box of wine glasses," Dr GH of Oakville, Ont, called to his wife as they prepared for guests over the holidays. He'd broken yet another glass, this time by snapping off the stem as he took it out of the dishwasher. "And let's get something decent this time," he added, shouting over the vacuum cleaner. And thereby hangs a question: Just what is decent when it comes to wine glasses?

You may be of the opinion that it's not the glass but what's in it that counts -- you'd be in the minority. Most of your colleagues agree that the glass that contains the Shiraz, Merlot, Soave or Zinfandel makes a significant contribution to the overall satisfaction quotient.

If the time has come for you to buy new wine glasses -- and come it must -- what should you look for?

Avoid anything with grapes painted on it, or that's been embossed. Also, size is important. To a degree, the bigger the better. You want something that feels good in the hand and has a long enough stem that you can hold the glass without warming the wine. The top should taper in to retain the aroma. A 600ml (20-21oz) glass meets the criterion and lends the pouring and drinking of a glass of wine a sense of occasion.

HERE ARE SOME GROUND RULES:

1. Clear, unadorned glass
2. A nice, long stem
3. A capacity of at least 600ml, not that you're going to fill it but you need to allow a generous amount for sloshing
4. Tapered at the top
5. A reasonable price

To some a reasonable price might be $4.95, but let's face it, a five-dollar glass is not up to the standards of, say, a $25-$50 wine. Even a $10 wine benefits from a better glass. On the other hand a $20 glass, while clearly up to the task, extracts too much of an emotional toll when you break it. So, like the Buddha, let us choose the middle ground. A $10-12 glass will provide a good balance between elegance and utility.

The find the perfect glass, the best place to look is online. A search on Google.ca for "wine glasses + Canada" is disappointing. On the other hand, a wider "google.com" search came up with two sites well known to wine fanciers, the Wine Enthusiast (www.wineenthusiast.com) and International Wine Accessories (www.iwawine.com). Each offers a huge range of glasses and all the advice you'd ever need on matching wines with the appropriate glass. We also had a look at The Wine Merchant (www.thewinemerchantinc.com) which features a splendid easy-to-use guide to appropriate glasswear but is somewhat less user-friendly that the other two when it comes to making a purchase.

We were looking for a long-stemmed 600ml in the $10 range. Each site has glasses that fill the bill and in the right price range. The Wine Enthusiast asks $49.95 US for a set of six. IWA charges $44.95 US. Each charges for shipping separately.

The glasses come carefully packaged and there was no breakage on a recent order. Both offer to replace any damage at no charge. Finding a good wine glass at a decent price is a challenge in all but a few cities in Canada. Next time you're in the market consider going online -- for the time being, like so much of online shopping, you'll find the best offerings in the US. Until Canadian online retailers catch up you can at least take consolation in the strong Canadian dollar.