What is an Insulated Wine Tumbler?
A wine tumbler is a durable cup utilizing a double or triple walled design to insulate beverages. These tumblers are often made of plastic or metal to ensure that they can handle outdoor abuse such as bumps or drops. Yeti is probably the most well-known brand since it is the one who really brought vacuum-sealed glasses to the mass market.
They are insulated using a vacuum-sealed double-wall design or with a multi-wall design that uses traditional insulating materials. This allows the liquid inside to stay hot or warm despite the weather outside. It also means that the tumbler never sweats, so it’s easy to hold and won’t leave a water ring when you set it down.
But a wine tumbler is different from a regular insulated glass because it is specially designed for wine and holds the shape of a typical stemless wine glass.
The Different Types of Insulation
Material Insulation
Insulated wine tumblers will usually use a double or triple walled design where the inside is filled with some sort of insulating material. This is any material that does not effectively conduct heat. These are the same types of materials used in coolers to keep your food and drinks cold. Some insulated wine tumblers will use a triple-walled design so that multiple different types of insulating materials can be used in the same glass.
Vacuum Sealed
A vacuum-sealed wine tumbler is the most effective method for retaining a consistent temperature inside of the glass. Vacuum sealed tumblers also use a double-walled design, but instead of filling the space with any material, it is vacuum-sealed. This means that the space inside is devoid of any molecules at all. Since heat uses air molecules to move, the heat has a tough time escaping or entering the tumbler. This is the most effective way to insulate anything.
Thermal Tumblers
Thermal tumblers are not their own distinct category. It is often the generic term used to describe any insulated tumbler.
Advantages of Using an Insulated Wine Tumbler
No Temperature Change
One of the biggest reasons that a wine glass has a stem is that you don’t have to hold the bowl. Your perception of wine through both taste and smell will vary with the temperature of the wine. This is why white wine is served chilled and red wine is served at room temperature. These are their optimal states for proper taste. When you hold a glass by the bowl, your hand will naturally warm the wine. That is why when you are drinking expensive wine; they tell you to hold it by the stem instead.
A wine tumbler is excellent because not only is it specifically designed to keep your wine at the same temperature that you poured it in, but the double-walled design will make sure that the warmth from your hand won’t change the temperature of your wine.
No Fingerprints
The second reason that a wine glass has a stem is so that your hand doesn’t get fingerprints on the glass. Fingerprints block the view of the wine, but they also just don’t look very good on the glass. Fortunately, this is not a problem because insulated wine tumblers aren’t made of glass, so they never show handprints.
Practically Indestructible
Because insulated wine tumblers are usually made of steel or thick plastic, they are practically indestructible. The outsides are highly scratch, and dent-resistant and the cup as a whole can be dropped from tremendous heights without sustaining any real damage. These are the perfect wine glasses for picnics, camping, or boating. They can handle any of your favorite outdoor activities and still give you the enjoyable sense of drinking from an ordinary wine glass.
Totally Customizable
These insulated wine tumblers are entirely customizable to match your personality and style. They come in many different colors, shapes, and styles. The metal outside also makes a great surface to put stickers or other accessories on to make your tumbler stand out.
No Metallic Taste
You might think that drinking out of a stainless steel tumbler would give your drink a metallic taste, and with off-brand knockoff metal tumblers, it might. But with all of these high-quality, name-brand tumblers, that isn’t a problem. They are specially coated to make sure that your wine’s flavor is never affected.
Disadvantages of Using an Insulated Wine Tumbler
There are some disadvantages to using a wine tumbler, but to be honest, the pros far outweigh the cons.
No Visuals
Since these wine tumblers are made of double-walled steel, you cannot enjoy the visual aspect of your wine. You can’t see the color or depth of the wine in your glass.
Lacks Elegance
These insulated wine tumblers are beautiful and pleasant to hold, but they do lack some of the refined elegance of a crystal glass. Though to be fair, these are not geared towards holding fine wines that would be used at a nice dinner. They are intended for outdoor life, and for that purpose, these wine tumblers are about as lovely as it gets.
OUR FAVORITE INSULATED WINE TUMBLERS!
Best Overall
Yeti Rambler Wine Tumbler is our pick for the best overall wine tumbler. It is made of 18/8 kitchen-grade stainless steel. This stainless steel is high quality, so it will never leech any flavor into your drink as well as being completely puncture and rust-resistant.
The double-walled design retains the temperature of the liquid inside of your glass using an extremely effective double-walled vacuum seal. This is the method that made Yeti so famous, allowing it to hold a consistent temperature for an extended period.
The DuraCoat paint coating is also a significant factor in what makes this tumbler stand out. It’s incredibly durable and won’t scratch off like some other tumbler coatings. This Duracoat also has a texture that gives an excellent grip to hold onto so the glass won’t slip out of your hand. The coating and tumbler are also dishwasher safe, making a massive difference in the ease of use.
Where this wine tumbler lacks is in its 10 oz capacity. This is much smaller than most of its competitors. It also doesn’t come standard with a lid. This is something you’re almost certainly going to want, and although their lid design is the best in its class, it shouldn’t cost extra.
Largest Capacity
BrüMate is an excellent brand that has become a new major player in the insulated tumbler world. They make high quality tripped walled wine tumblers and have the largest capacity of any wine tumbler out there. This is their large capacity BrüMate Uncork’d XL . The larger size is a big advantage since these cups are usually used when you are being active. A larger 14 oz capacity is big enough to hold over half a bottle of wine, meaning you don’t have to worry about bringing a big glass wine bottle for refills.
These insulated wine tumblers feature a triple-walled design that uses insulating materials to keep your drink cold or hot for longer. They also make a name for themselves by offering over 27 different colors, including new limited edition models. All of the BrüMate’s colors are bright, vivid, glossy, and sometimes include a metallic flake. Very much in contrast to Yeti’s matte color palate.
These wine tumblers also come with a splashproof lid. Keeping your wine inside the tumbler even on your wildest outings.
Unique Design
The Corkcicle Insulated Wine Tumbler first caught our eye because of its unique design. While it is made of stainless steel like the others and is well insulated to keep up with the competition. It seems to differentiate itself in its design. A design that appears to be based around preventing accidental drops and spills.
The sides of the cup aren’t curved like a traditional wine glass or wine tumbler, but instead, they have built-in small flat edges that make the tumbler extremely easy to hold. This design gives you a much firmer grasp than you’ll get with some of the other tumblers. This means fewer accidental spills or drops.
This glass also has a silicone ring on the bottom to keep it from moving around if it is sitting on a slick or wet surface. This is great since these tumblers are usually going to be used at tailgates where they’ll sit on beer-soaked tables. Or on boats where the hull may be moving and rocking. Then, this becomes a small feature that makes a big difference.
This wine tumbler comes in a wide variety of colors. It has a triple-walled insulated design and comes with a spill-proof lid. It is also 12 ounces, so resides in the middle ground as far as size. This gives it more than enough capacity for an extra-large glass of wine.
Best Plastic Wine Tumbler
Although these stainless steel wine tumblers are specially coated so that they never leech any metallic flavor into your drink, some people just don’t like drinking out of a metal glass. If you want something durable and insulated that isn’t metal, then we think you’ll love the True Traveler Double–Walled Wine Tumbler.
This double-walled design is not insulated or vacuum-sealed, so it doesn’t keep in or hold out heat as well as some of its metal competitors. But the double-walled design does mean that you don’t have to worry about your hand warming up the wine since you will only be touching the outside layer.
This plastic wine tumbler is BPA free and does have an advantage over metal in that it allows you to see and enjoy the color and depth of your wine. This is something that is an integral part of enjoying a glass of good red wine and an aspect of appreciation that you lose when using a stainless steel wine tumbler.
This double-walled design still has a respectable 10-ounce capacity and can be thrown into the top rack of the dishwasher for easy cleanup.
The spill-proof lid is an excellent addition, and the smooth plastic feels good on your lips. This lid also comes in many different colors so that you can choose whichever color matches your style. This color difference is also helpful in discerning which glass is yours if you’re at a party where you have many people drinking from the same style of tumbler.
Best Price
Do not let the budget pick category fool you. The Penguin Cold Insulated Wine Glass is one of the best wine tumblers on this list. To start, it is double-wall vacuum-sealed. The gold standard for insulation and a trait that it shares only with the yeti wine tumbler. This is because vacuum sealing a tumbler is quite expensive. Yet Penguin Cold manages to create a wine glass with the same insulation for almost a quarter of the price.
It is made of BPA-free, 304 food-grade 18/8 Stainless Steel inside and out for extreme durability. The exterior is powder-coated with multiple layers. Providing a nonslip grip and extreme resistance against scratches in case it is dropped. And it comes in many different colors, all for the same insanely low price.
This cup comes with a clear lid that helps to prevent spills and can accommodate a straw for easy drinking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Best Insulated Wine Tumbler?
The best insulated wine tumbler is probably the yeti rambler. It uses the gold standard double-walled vacuum-sealed design to maintain temperature, and the DuraCoat painted outside is the toughest exterior on the market.
Do Insulated Cups Keep Drinks Cold?
Insulated cups do keep drinks cold, utilizing either insulating materials or a double-walled vacuum-sealed design to make sure that heat has an extremely tough time entering or escaping the cup.
What is a Wine Tumbler?
A wine tumbler is a durable cup utilizing a double or triple walled design to insulate beverages. These tumblers are often made of plastic or metal to ensure that they can handle outdoor abuse such as bumps or drops.
Are Wine Tumblers Only for Wine?
Wine tumblers are built with the optimal shape to deliver an enjoyable drinking experience for wine, but they can hold and will insulate any beverage that you’d like.
Is it Okay to Drink Wine From Stainless Steel?
It is okay to drink wine from food-grade stainless steel. All wine tumblers from reputable companies meet this standard, and food-grade stainless steel will never react with the chemicals in wine or any beverage that the tumbler may hold.
