I backyard-tested the prototypes last month and liked what I saw, held,and balanced. I’m particularly fond of the compartmentalized model, since I have a fear of my foods touching each other. But of course, for hungry bears, the standard, flat style will hold far more food. The stem holder (functional for both wine and martini glasses) is fantastic for noshing and networking, leaving your shaker hand free to press flesh or, more importantly, deliver crostini from plate to palate. The holder is advertised to work for, but is not quite so steady with flat-bottomed cups. I found that unless the drink is fairly full or weighted by ice cubes, it is apt to tip – not a pretty picture if you’re wearing freshly pressed whites.

A new star on the stemless wine-wear scene might just provide the right solution for that tipsy situation. GoVino, another environmentally minded manufacturer suddenly emerged this summer as the new leader in outdoor wine drinkwear. I LOVE these new glasses, which are reusable but made of biodegradable plastic. Their look is similar to a Riedel O but with a thumb divot designed into the side of the glass for easy balancing. And speaking of balancing, because these glasses have slightly rounded bottoms, they settle into the Mingle Easy far more sturdily than do flat-bottomed glasses. I actually recommend GoVino not only as an excellent partner to the Mingle Easy at any outdoor wine affair, I also suggest that they might be the best choice for sipping juice, Coke, Mojitos or Scotch on the rocks. (The glasses were specifically engineered to reflect a wine’s aroma and color as closely to crystal as one can get with plastic. This design is by far the best I’ve yet experienced in the go-anywhere wine glass market. And I’ve found that this attribute makes it not only extremely wine friendly, but also helps to reflect the flavors of any beverage without any of the usual plastic aromas).

I’ll be using mine this summer and probably for many years to come! However, I should add one small note of caution: GoVino glasses do not take kindly to most dishwashers. They’re safe for commercial models but the company recommends hand washing at home. (My dishwasher rinse cycle is safe, so I do a prewash then finish by hand. I made the mistake of slipping a pair into a regular cycle and wound up with two lumps of interesting plastic art).  

The GoVino glasses sell in sets of four and are available at amazon.com. You can purchase the Mingle Easy plates by the dozen from the manufacturer at www.MingleEasy.com.

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