| If you're looking for a great gift for a wine lover, | | | | is to break stemware, whether in the dishwasher |
| may I suggest fake drinking glasses? | | | | or simply from normal handling. But even if you |
| When I say "fake," I'm referring to the material | | | | try to break them, polycarbonate glasses will last |
| from which they are made. These are real | | | | forever. |
| glasses in the sense that you can pour wine into | | | | The main disadvantage of polycarbonate glasses |
| them and drink from them, but they are not | | | | is their weight. Most of them are too light! |
| made of glass. The magic word is "polycarbonate." | | | | Light weight is an advantage in eyeglass lenses |
| Polycarbonate is a type of plastic -- one of the | | | | and cell phones, but in a wine glass it just doesn't |
| most amazing ever invented. It's incredibly tough | | | | feel right. Part of the enjoyment of wine comes |
| and shatter-resistant, and for that reason (among | | | | from the heft of the glass itself -- we don't want |
| others) is used in eyeglasses, sunglasses, | | | | to feel that we are sipping our favorite vintage |
| greenhouse windows, car headlights, CDs and | | | | from some cheap, throwaway cup. |
| DVDs, and cell-phone casings, to name just a few | | | | The solution? Make sure you look for double |
| applications. | | | | weight polycarbonate wine glasses. These are |
| Nowadays you can also buy a huge variety of | | | | made specifically to replicate both the look and |
| dining ware made from polycarbonate, including | | | | feel of good crystal stemware. Many people |
| wine glasses, which is what we're interested in | | | | cannot tell the difference between them, in fact. |
| here. | | | | Double weight polycarbonate wine glasses are not |
| The main advantage of polycarbonate wine | | | | especially cheap, but as a special gift -- to a |
| glasses is their durability, which is in sharp contrast | | | | friend, loved one or even yourself -- they can't be |
| to the fragility of typical crystal stemware. If you | | | | beat. |
| serve wine at your table, you know how easy it | | | | |