Why do I keep buying these things, and even still have Champagne flutes emblazoned with 2007 on them?
#1) They're inexpensive. Nice glassware breaks over time, and while I always try to pick the perfect piece of crystal with the appropriate wine, there are far more casual occasions when non-fanatics just want to enjoy a glass, and these are perfect.
#2) They're indestructible. I've watched an expensive piece of Austrian stemware just crumble at the table. These glasses will survive the dishwasher, being employed as water glasses at Thanksgiving/Christmas, and can tip over without showering your dining room with tiny shards of pricy glass.
#3) Wine glasses don't always have to match. True, I enjoy a proper table setting with perfect stemware at all eight seatings. This is rarely how I enjoy wine in the real world.
#4) You'll always have extra glasses. Sometimes a friend comes over with a dozen bottles, or you're a wine writer and you receive three dozen bottles in one week and don't want to swirl and spit from the same glass all afternoon. It's helpful to have some generic red glasses, white glasses, and then assorted oddballs for dessert wines and sparklers that require thorough rinsing before sampling other types of wine.
#5) They're fun. I've always wanted wine to seem like a less threatening topic for the novice, and sometimes pouring the really nice, well-aged splash of Burgundy in a goofy glass covered in owls is the best way to make someone feel comfortable. I've seen people get really nervous around expensive stemware and end up breaking it, while a cheaper goblet style is more approachable and, referencing point #2, unlikely to break under normal conditions.
When it all comes down to it, the holidays are a time to have fun with friends and family. But I'm not suggesting you run out and buy Thanksgiving and Christmas glassware--the time is right to buy glasses covered in spiders, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night.
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