Drinking Glass

The delicate ting of fine crystal stemware is as much a part of the process of enjoying fine wine as is the satisfying plop of a cork being extracted. If you've ever sipped out of a fine crystal wine glass, you know it's different from a plastic cup, or even a glass goblet. First, a few definitions are in order. Merriam-Webster defines glass as "any of various amorphous materials formed from a melt by cooling to rigidity without crystallization," and goes on to specify "a usually transparent or translucent material consisting typically of a mixture of silicates."