Vineyard Sun Sunglasses—The Wine Lover’s Eyewear

We received the product for review and all opinions are our own.

Just before Christmas, I received a pair of Vineyard Sun sunglasses, their style named Cabernet Sauvignon. I spent several weeks trying them out, wearing them in many different lighting conditions. The Texas made sunglasses proved to hold up and help in every situation.

Vineyard Sun is a local, small business headquartered in Austin. And trips out to visit the Texas Hill Country wineries inspired the product. These sunglasses are all about Texas wine.

The Vineyard Sun sunglasses incorporate a unique design element: cork. The frame is composed of a high-quality cork. The outside of the frame sports the cork, as well as their logo (on the side of the temple arms). The rest of the frame appears to be more of a light-colored wood or wood grained plastic. The glass style—in this case Cabernet Sauvignon—appears on the inside of the left arm.

The frame material is extraordinarily lightweight. I found them to be far lighter than most pairs of sunglasses I own. This mainly has its advantages, but, for me, I incurred a disadvantage. Mainly, their weight makes them feel less noticeable. And when I carried them, I forgot I even had them. However, I often push my glasses on to my head. Being so lightweight, they often slip easily (the smooth interior to the frame helps this too). Since I have heavy, long hair, when I pushed my glasses on to my head, the weight of my hair almost always caused them to fall off.

The frame is a snug, but flexible fit. First, they are a full-rimmed frame; they are composed of only three pieces (rims and two arms). This style does not work well for those with a fuller face. However, they have flexible hinges. Basic sunglass hinges only move one way—in. However, these hinges can pull out, widening the glass’ size (a common feature on most eyeglasses). This allows for a comfortable snug fit, a feature I like a lot.

The bridge and “nose pad” are built for comfort. Though the parts are all one piece with the rims, they are contoured. The nose pads round out beyond the frame, creating a secure but comfortable fit on the nose. The bridge is contoured inward, creating an inward dip to better accommodate the top of the nose. These elements, combined with the weight, make it feel as if the glasses are barely there.

The Syrah style, which is sold out, is different. It is a semi-rimless frame with the metal bridge connecting the two rims and individual nose pads.

The lenses work well. Both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Syrah have a 400 UVA/B rating. I found they blocked the brightest of sunlight, on a day with no clouds in the sky, as well as on cloudy days. On the cloudy days, the lenses worked well without making the view too dark, even providing help from glare. They are also thin and made from plastic rather than glass.

However, the Cabernet Sauvignon glasses have violet mirrored lenses, which may turn off some. The color stands out; I got lots of positive attention from them. But the mirroring sometimes made driving a bit difficult, as I would see reflections of my face that distorted my view. Once I got used to this, I had no problem. The color also changed the color of my view some, giving it a slight dark green tinge to everything, something I did adjust too.

The glasses come in their own box. It is a rather large box; my sunglasses only fill about half of the space. The ends are made with a light-colored wood. The rest of the box is made from a paper-thin wood of a slightly darker color. This material has a cloth padding inside to protect the glasses. The top wraps around to the front. Its closure is stable, with a wooden knob that has an elastic ban that holds the top in place. This box is lightweight, just like the glasses. However, since most of the box is paper-thin, it does struggle to keep its shape and is easily creased. Thankfully, the larger structure and solid wood ends eliminate the likelihood that the top will never crush the glasses.

Right now, the Vineyard Sun sunglasses are only available online through their website— vineyardsun.com. The final price will have taxes and shipping added on. Also, only the Cabernet Sauvignon are currently available (the pair I received). As for shipping, they arrived in a Priority Mail box, more than large enough to safely ship the glasses. The case was bubble-wrapped, enough to fill the box and keep the case cushioned. They arrived safely and undamaged.

I have worn these non-stop since they arrived. They have proven easy to carry and durable. However, I will not likely wear them all the time. Some days I will just need to return to my trusty cheap sunglasses that remain on my head while keeping my hair pulled back.

You can also follow Vineyard Sun via Instagram at @vineyard_sun.

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