Anyone ever order or use any of the glasses created and sold by sommelier Andrea Robinson? She designed these glasses so that (she says) you need just one style for whites, and one for reds. They're made by Stolzle in Germany. They were'nt too expensive compared to other well known brands, around $12.50/stem, so we thought we'd order a few. We had a bunch of problems having the order go thru on line, so I wound up calling it in. The person taking the order said I'd get a call back confirming it. A while later Andrea herself called to confirm the order. We chatted a few minutes about wine in general-she was very easy to talk to and pleasant. She said I'd get an email confirming the order-a week went by and no confirmation. So, I called again and got Andrea again. She said they were out of stock for some of the glasses, but they were in and I'd get that email confirmation right away. Oops, another week's gone by and no glasses and no email. We got wine to drink and no new glasses to drink it from. Good thing we still got straws.
"The One" wine glasses?
- Thread starter dinolan
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I have not heard of her and everything you wrote makes it sound fishy. That is until I googled it and saw several web sites. I hope it works out for you and please keep us posted.
I kinda knew who she was, based on seeing her on tv and other websites-I guess she's pretty well renowned in the sommelier world, if that means anything. It just seems the workings of the website is a little rinky-dink. I'll give a call again and see what the deal is.
Mike
Mike
I have a partial non-update. I found out they charged my card on 5/19. I tried calling their toll free number given at Andreawine.com, and it says their office is closed, open 8-12 and 1-5 CST. I know i'm no math wizz, but its 3:39 PM here in CT, so I think that makes it 2:39 PM wherever they are (TX I think?). I also sent Andrea an email an hour ago, no response yet. The plot thickens....
Well, the glasses just arrived w/o any paperwork for the order. I did find out from my credit card co. that I didn't get the discount that was promised. Oh well, it was only $5.00. But better in my pocket than in theirs. And no extra glasses and no bottles of vino.
I'm a little disappointed with the customer service received. I understand Andrea Robinson having to fly all over the world tasting fine wine & food, a busy lady. I guess my disappointment stems (pun intended) from the fact that she herself called me to take the order and said that she was placing the order and would send the confirmation, then during our second conversation said again she'd send the confirmation. I couldn't figure out why she would be involved with a puney order like mine. I tried calling the office number listed on her website, but never got to talk to anyone-no answer all day. The voicemail at the number I called said the office was open 8AM-12PM and 1PM-5PM CST. I think that's eWinerySolutions from Texas, the company handling her order fulfillment.The package was shipped from Napa however.
I'll give a report on the glasses after I clean 'em and have a chance to give them a test drive.
I'm a little disappointed with the customer service received. I understand Andrea Robinson having to fly all over the world tasting fine wine & food, a busy lady. I guess my disappointment stems (pun intended) from the fact that she herself called me to take the order and said that she was placing the order and would send the confirmation, then during our second conversation said again she'd send the confirmation. I couldn't figure out why she would be involved with a puney order like mine. I tried calling the office number listed on her website, but never got to talk to anyone-no answer all day. The voicemail at the number I called said the office was open 8AM-12PM and 1PM-5PM CST. I think that's eWinerySolutions from Texas, the company handling her order fulfillment.The package was shipped from Napa however.
I'll give a report on the glasses after I clean 'em and have a chance to give them a test drive.
From all I'd read about and by Andrea Robinson, I thought she was a standup person. That's why I was surprised at the failure of anyone to followup on email correspondance or for their phone to go unanswered for a couple days.
Well, in any event, I have the glasses and we put the white ones to a test last night. Not having any of my whites ready to drink, I picked up a bottle of '08 Lava Beneventano Falanghina. From what I've read, Falanghina is an ancient grape thought to be brought over by the Greeks when they colonized southern Italy. This wine was produced in Benevento, kinda NE of Naples, where one of my grandma's was from. That's pretty much the reason I bought it. Falanga means wooden stake by the way. Before pouring I cleaned the glasses using chlorinated tap water. After drying, I took a sniff inside the glass and WOW I could smell chlorine bigtime. Like a real strong smell. The glasses really do concentrate the aromas at the lip. I recleaned them using filtered water and that solved that problem. On to the taste- the wine was a pale gold color (very visable through the thin, very clear crystal) and the smell was very strongly floral and fruity/apple flavored. I was impressed with the way the glasses allowed us to really get a BIG smell of the wine compared to the ol' Libby glasses I'd been using. We did a side by side comparison with the Libby white glasses. The bowel is much wider and the opening is smaller on "The One" which I guess is why I got a much stronger aroma than from the old glasses. Taste-very fruity (apples mostly), a little spiciness on the moderately long finish, but very sweet, too sweet and fruity for my taste. It was 14.3 % ABV. I had it with grilled salmon and it worked ok with that.
I'm not an expert by any means on glassware, so I'm not sure how lead crystal affects things. These aren't leded. Something else to do some booklearnin' about I guess. I just think lead=bad, so I tried these. They're a whole lot better than what I'd been using before Reply
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I just heard back from Andrea Robinson via email. I guess they had my email address wrong, so what we had was a failure to communicate. She was very professional and appologetic and will credit me the discount she promised so I do stand by the comment that's she's a stand up guy. Based on a preliminary test of the stems for white wine, I do recommend them. A little pricey at $12.50/stem, but I guess its not bad compared to some of the higher priced models. I hope I don't break 'em with my usual grace.
Well, in any event, I have the glasses and we put the white ones to a test last night. Not having any of my whites ready to drink, I picked up a bottle of '08 Lava Beneventano Falanghina. From what I've read, Falanghina is an ancient grape thought to be brought over by the Greeks when they colonized southern Italy. This wine was produced in Benevento, kinda NE of Naples, where one of my grandma's was from. That's pretty much the reason I bought it. Falanga means wooden stake by the way. Before pouring I cleaned the glasses using chlorinated tap water. After drying, I took a sniff inside the glass and WOW I could smell chlorine bigtime. Like a real strong smell. The glasses really do concentrate the aromas at the lip. I recleaned them using filtered water and that solved that problem. On to the taste- the wine was a pale gold color (very visable through the thin, very clear crystal) and the smell was very strongly floral and fruity/apple flavored. I was impressed with the way the glasses allowed us to really get a BIG smell of the wine compared to the ol' Libby glasses I'd been using. We did a side by side comparison with the Libby white glasses. The bowel is much wider and the opening is smaller on "The One" which I guess is why I got a much stronger aroma than from the old glasses. Taste-very fruity (apples mostly), a little spiciness on the moderately long finish, but very sweet, too sweet and fruity for my taste. It was 14.3 % ABV. I had it with grilled salmon and it worked ok with that.
I'm not an expert by any means on glassware, so I'm not sure how lead crystal affects things. These aren't leded. Something else to do some booklearnin' about I guess. I just think lead=bad, so I tried these. They're a whole lot better than what I'd been using before Reply
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I just heard back from Andrea Robinson via email. I guess they had my email address wrong, so what we had was a failure to communicate. She was very professional and appologetic and will credit me the discount she promised so I do stand by the comment that's she's a stand up guy. Based on a preliminary test of the stems for white wine, I do recommend them. A little pricey at $12.50/stem, but I guess its not bad compared to some of the higher priced models. I hope I don't break 'em with my usual grace.
closetwine
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I'm glad it all worked out for you! I'd say that's not too much of a splurge for good stemware... I've seen a 1/2 decent set go for $50 a piece without anyone batting an eye... I'm gonna check into these... I need a decent set, however as clutzy as I am, I'm probably better off with the dollar store plastic stemware! Oh, has anyone seen those out yet? I need some for a summer cookout... No way am I breaking out my glass...
Thanks. I'm thinking of maybe wrapping these new one's in bubblewrap. They may stand a chance of lasting a little longer that way. May try the reds tonight. The bowel on the reds is a little bigger for more swirl action.
Mike
Mike,
Thank you for starting this thread. I had never heard of Andrea Robinson before. After this thread, I got on her website and am really enjoying it. She really knows her stuff and makes it very easy to understand. I can't believe I had not run into her site before.
You spoke about her emailing you, herself. Well, I was wanting to find out details about signing up for her video classes, but could not figure out how to do it. I emailed her site about it. Today, she personally sent me an email response.
If anyone out there wants to learn more about wine tasting, pairings, and about anything else to do with wine, check out her website.
Thanks again, Mike.
Thank you for starting this thread. I had never heard of Andrea Robinson before. After this thread, I got on her website and am really enjoying it. She really knows her stuff and makes it very easy to understand. I can't believe I had not run into her site before.
You spoke about her emailing you, herself. Well, I was wanting to find out details about signing up for her video classes, but could not figure out how to do it. I emailed her site about it. Today, she personally sent me an email response.
If anyone out there wants to learn more about wine tasting, pairings, and about anything else to do with wine, check out her website.
Thanks again, Mike.
You're welcome Robie. I've looked thru her website a little, just haven't had the time to check it out in detail. If you go to Gary Vaynerchuck's (sp?) Daily Grape website, you can see an interview with her. That's where I first heard of her stemware. Let us know what you wind up doing class-wise. Good luck,
Mike.
Mike.
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Hi Robie....
I agree that Andrea really knows her stuff. She is one of only a handful of female master sommeliers in the world! She recently married and am surprised that she took on the Robinson name .... she was very well know as Andre Immer. I love the fact that she a down to earth girl ... not snobby at all and keeps things simple and easy to understand. I watched a few "Emeril Lagasy" shows on Food Network where she was pairing wines with food that Emerill was cooking. A very impressive lady!
Yep, she has something many sommeliers and other wine-related experts don't have - that's personality.
I am trying to catch up on her Daily Tastings TV. I'll do a week's worth each day until I get current. Week 2 really changed my perspective on Rieslings.
I am pleased as punch to have found her website.
I am trying to catch up on her Daily Tastings TV. I'll do a week's worth each day until I get current. Week 2 really changed my perspective on Rieslings.
I am pleased as punch to have found her website.
My wife and I received two sets of The One wine glasses for reds as a wedding gift. We knew they were nice and took good care of them by carefully hand washing them, immediately drying, and carefully storing away from everyday glasses.
We used The One wine glasses less than a dozen times when one shattered in my hand as I dried it. After contacting the creator/owner, Andrea, she essentially told us they are "break resistant" not unbreakable. She apologized. No refund. No discount offered. No longer a customer.
We used The One wine glasses less than a dozen times when one shattered in my hand as I dried it. After contacting the creator/owner, Andrea, she essentially told us they are "break resistant" not unbreakable. She apologized. No refund. No discount offered. No longer a customer.
