Best Hand-Blown Wine Glasses: My Josephinenhütte N° 3 Review
- Steve Fiore
- Aug 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 22
Childhood Memories: Glass Blowing and a Jug of Wine
When I was a kid growing up, my best friend, Paul, lived a few houses up from me. Each Christmas, he had a real tree with all hand-blown balls in different colors. His Uncle Lennie was a glass blower and made them enough balls to fill the tree and it looked amazing. I will get back to the glass blowing in a bit.
Just about the same time as my memory serves me about the glass blown Christmas balls, I also have a recollection of going to my grandparents’ house. During those visits, we would sit around the kitchen table, and my grandfather would take out the $2 gallon jug of wine and would pour a glass for every adult. I never remember trying it, but I do remember it smelled awful, not just because I was a kid, but because I think it smelled like vinegar.
Our Journey into Wine
Fast forward a bunch of years. My wife and I were married in our mid 20’s and we started drinking red wine. We started drinking wine pretty much by default at functions because neither of us really liked hard liquor or beer. For the next 25 years, we slowly started to improve our taste in wine. Unlike a future post where I mention I am a pizza snob; I am nowhere near self-proclaiming myself as a wine snob.
In time, we started to become more interested in wine, being able to tell at least a good wine from a bad wine, and over time, being able to pick up some of the tasting notes for each wine. We went to a few local wineries and started to learn about the growing of the grapes and how even slightly different elevations can make a difference in the taste of the grapes. In two weeks, we are going to the local winery to pick the grapes off of the vines and then taste the same wine. There is so much to learn about wine, and we are by no means experts.
About 10 years ago, we bought ourselves a nicer set of wine glasses but nothing out of the ordinary by any means. It probably came from Target or Bed Bath and Beyond. My wife and I both like Cabernet and the wine glasses we purchases were specific to a Cabernet where you could swirl the wine to open it up. I then learned about an aerator and a decanter, both making significant differences in the taste of the wine for the better.
About a year ago, I had a recollection of a memory from a former colleague who mentioned he traveled with his own very expensive wine glass. I thought he was crazy at the time (but now can appreciate his passion). That got me thinking about doing some research for an upgraded wine glass. As with all of my product research process, I search through multiple product recommendation sites to find some commonality. You have to dig through the ones that just pull from someone else’s site but through lots of time, you can pull out the ones that keep coming up.
The Glass That Changed Everything
This is where the hand-blown (yes, you read that correctly) wine glasses from Josephinenhütte kept coming to the top of the list. After seeing the reviews and then reading more on the website, I was sold. I purchased two Josephine N° 3 glasses for our 26th wedding anniversary and the experience is no less than amazing. So much of the experience in drinking wine is the smell and these wine glasses deliver. There are two aspects between the shape of the glass itself where the smell is captured by the curved shape but there is also the break towards the bottom of the glass that does a phenomenon job in opening up the wine.
As I was reading before our purchase, one comment that stuck with me is that these glasses will even make a not-so-great wine taste good…and its true. We even did a taste test with the original glasses and the Josephinehutte glasses and there is no comparison.
Small Details, Big Experience
This next part is important. Because the glasses are hand blown, they are thin, and therefore delicate. This means extra special care when in use. It also means my wife won’t let me wash the glasses (partly because of how thin and breakable they are but also because I never did a great job washing the wine glasses). My job is to dry them with the Linen Cloth & Brush Care Set they offer (I have not used the paint brush to dry the very minor spots it comes with).
Future purchases (someday) are the Josephine N° 7 Decanter and while I never think I will purchase it, the Josephine N° 6 Water glass. It is really hard to justify a $55 water glass, but I have a really strong feeling that the water will taste 100 times better. I haven’t done any research on it as of yet but if I ever buy it, I will be sure to write about it. Also, there will be a future post about Tequila from a friend of mine and I am sure the Josephine N° 10 Eau de Vie glasses will make it taste amazing.
If you want to elevate your wine experience, I highly recommend the Josephinenhütte wine glasses. It will give you the sensory experience of dining at a MICHELIN star restaurant in the comfort of your own home.
I would love to learn about your wine glass experience or if you have a favorite small farm or family-owned wine that you are in love with. Cheers!
Cover photo by David Kohler
The Rooted & Refined Living Standard:
Every glass is a work of art. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or like to enjoy a relaxing glass on a Friday night, the Josephinehutte wine glass will elevate your sensory experience. First, the glass just looks like it should be in a museum. Feel the glass and give it a light ping and notice how light it is from the sound of the ping. Once you pour the wine, notice the break in the glass to help open up the wine and then lastly, the taste. This is where you will believe you made a great decision and getting the experience the winemaker intended.
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