Zaltissimo!

To begin at the beginning, there was Stolzle, a Spiegelau, a Schott Zwiesel and then a Riedel.  ´´It´s spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters’-and-rabbits’ wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboatbobbing sea´´. And then, came along Zalto!

How did Zalto became the fine wine drinker´s poetic wine glass of choice!

Acrimonious design disputes, product shortages and high prices haven’t stopped Zalto from achieving cult status as the wine connoisseur’s favourite glassware.

‘We lost a year’s worth of production in two years,’ admits Daniel Primack, for Zalto. He is recalling the time during the pandemic when lockdown and a pre-planned furnace reconstruction combined to severely curtail production of all Zalto’s glassware.

As a result, placing an order in the pandemic years became impossible. Zalto’s reputation is built on word of mouth, rather than advertising or PR, and as demand exceeded supply, the brand only became more aspirational. Zalto already had a loyal following among wine professionals but as demand from the hospitality industry decreased due to lockdowns, the increasing clamour from private individuals more than made up for it. It has stayed that way. ‘Supply has pretty much returned now,’ Primack points out, ‘and yet we are at capacity for orders.’

This photo shows the final stages of moulding the stem of a Zalto Universal glass.

That period of scarcity appears to have cemented Zalto as the cult glass for the everyday wine lover, transcending the line between the trade and the public. One might wonder: why not crank up production?

The answer has much to do with the seven years required to become a master glassblower. Each Zalto glass takes, on average, 15 minutes of labour (excluding the cooling stage), during which eight people will handle the glass, from the initial molten lump from a kiln to the finished product. The extensive training is just one of the reasons that the glassblowing community at this elite level is small. Primack explains, ‘there are 50 people glassblowing currently [at Zalto] and it’s extremely difficult to attract new talent. Young people would rather go work in Prague in AI than in a tiny community in the forest to train for years and get their hands burned.’

Kurt Zalto

FOR SUCH A UNIVERSALLY REVERED GLASSWARE BRAND, ZALTO’S CONCEPTION IS FAR FROM CRYSTAL CLEAR

The Denk’Art logo on Zalto’s stems is the clue to the controversy. The story the current owners of Zalto maintain is that an Austrian priest and beloved wine connoisseur, Hans Denk, is the designer of the Zalto glasses. The story goes that he used his appreciation for the arts and sciences to influence the design; the angles in the glasses (24, 48, and 72 degrees) match the earth’s tilt. Meanwhile, they say, Kurt Zalto’s role was simply to produce Denk’s designs, a version that is hotly disputed by Kurt himself. Despite this unsolved mystery, it’s clear that Zalto was a gamechanger, priming the industry and consumers for a new wave of glassware.

Hans Denk, the Austrian priest and wine lover.

WHY ARE ZALTO GLASSES BETTER?

ZALTO ARRIVED 20 YEARS AGO, INTRODUCING A LIGHTER, THINNER, STRAIGHTER, SLEEKER GLASS DESIGN. AND, DESPITE FEELING TERRIFYINGLY FRAGILE, THE GLASS WAS DISHWASHER SAFE.

WHAT WAS MOST REMARKABLE ABOUT ZALTO WAS IT´S BOLD CLAIM TO HAVE A SINGLE GLASS FOR ALL WINES: THE UNIVERSAL. ‘IT BECAME VERY DESIRED BY WINE PROFESSIONALS BECAUSE IT PUT IT´S NECK OUT AND SAID IT COULD HANDLE ANYTHING,’ EXPLAINS JAN KONETZKI, HEAD OF WINE AT FOUR SEASONS LONDON.

‘I really feel Zalto upped the level of glassware; there was nothing like that at the time, so I was one of the first sommeliers to put Zalto in at Gordon Ramsay,’ continues Konetzki. ‘It´s flat base doesn’t allow any faults to hide; it’s a very direct presentation of aromatics and flavours. The oak comes through more strongly and the core is more enhanced, making it ideal for modern wine styles.’ Praise from top sommeliers and wine critics began pouring in from all over the world.

In addition to the beloved Universal, Zalto rolled out a range of shapes for different wine styles. Today, there are six wine glasses available, from largest by volume to smallest: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Universal, White Wine, Sweet Wine and Champagne. Primack assures that the names of the glasses should not restrict wine drinkers. ‘The convention was to name glasses after regions’, says Primack, ‘but the glass names are misnomers; they could just be shape 1, shape 2, shape 3 etc. My advice is to try the same wine from the different glass shapes and decide for yourself.’

THE PRICE OF PERFECTION

WITH PRESTIGIOUS CLIENTS LIKE HARVEY NICHOLS, 67 PALL MALL, WILL HANCOCK (WWC SA), HEDONISM, TOP MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS AND MANY TOP WINERIES AROUND THE WORLD, RESPECT WITHIN THE INDUSTRY FOR ZALTO’S GLASPERFEKTION IS STILL STRONG. THERE IS CERTAINLY NO DISPUTING THE REPUTATION THE BRAND HAS DEVELOPED BUT IS ZALTO ALWAYS CONSIDERED THE GOLD STANDARD BY WINE PROFESSIONALS?

‘I really like Zalto Universal but mostly to taste,’ says Pascaline Lepeltier MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France). ´´For my perceptions, it is a great glass to decipher the wine and analyse it but it does not forgive any edge.´´ (Will Hancock says ´´The Universal like the other Zalto glasses take no prisoners. If there is a small fault, too much wood or a hidden substance in the wine, it will be magnified twice in the Universal´´)

A big thank you to our July correspondant, Victoria Daskal, for all her efforts here with the Zalto story!

In Stock:

We have everything, Bordeaux, Burgundy, White Wine, Champagne and of course Universal, including both Axium & Mystique Decanters (also 37.5cl, 75cl & magnum carafes) and their new 67 Decanter with stopper:  Le soixante-neuf!

P.O.A. = Price on Application!