Maximilian Riedel, the CEO and President of Riedel emphasized the entertainment factor associated with dining out, stating, “People go to restaurants because they love to be entertained.” At The Maybourne Beverly Hills, where he hosted an enlightening Riedel glass wine-tasting seminar, he shared this sentiment with a gathering of over 100 wine professionals and enthusiasts, underscoring that “A Riedel glass turns wine drinking into a celebration.”
Renowned restaurants and wineries worldwide choose Riedel glassware to elevate the wine-drinking experience.
This family-owned and operated glass company specializing in wine, spirits, and decanter glassware has been crafting drinking vessels since 1756, initially for religious institutions and royalty. In the 1950s, Maximilian’s grandfather blazed a trail by introducing grape varietal-specific stemware, targeting wine connoisseurs, sommeliers, professionals in the hospitality industry, and consumers on a global scale. The mission was to create luxury stemware that would accentuate the bouquet, flavor, balance, and finish of wines with every sip. “Our glasses guide the wine on your palate. It’s a conveyor belt conveying a message to all of your senses,” explained Maximilian Riedel.
The state-of-the-art technology behind RIEDEL VELOCE is harnessed at the Riedel factory in Weiden, Germany. These glasses are the result of highly advanced machine production, yielding both exquisite form and functionality. “The size and shape of the glass for each wine varietal bring out the aroma first,” noted Maximilian Riedel, further emphasizing that “without the right-sized glass, one might encounter overpowering alcohol, bitterness, and acidity.”
Stemware consists of three integral parts: the bowl, the stem, and the base. The architecture of the glass design pays close attention to the stem’s height and the base’s width.
New to 2023 is the Riedel Superleggero Restaurant glassware, designed to enhance the fine dining experience with food and wine at restaurants. In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Sommeliers, Riedel introduces a new premium machine-blown wine glass. Riedel recognized that “Today young people don’t want to work in a factory to make handmade glasses, so we had to adapt with machines to make our glassware,” as explained by Riedel.
The size and shape of the glass play a pivotal role when enjoying wine. Riedel offers a diamond-shaped bowl with a dramatic outward angle that narrows at the top. This design provides an exceptionally broad surface area, enhancing the wine’s silkiness on the palate. Their glasses excel in allowing the fruit-forward style of New World wines to shine.
The superiority of machine-made glasses over handmade ones can be seen in the rim diameter and bowl of the glass. Riedel is renowned for producing lightweight glassware with thin stems and large bowls, and they are the sole manufacturer to produce the widest base diameter ever by machine.
The new collection encompasses 8 distinct grape varietal glasses. The smallest is tailored for Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc wines. The Sauvignon Blanc glass stands slightly taller than the Riesling glass. Following suit, there are glasses designed for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and the large-bowl Cabernet.
Riedel wine glasses promise wine aficionados and novices alike four distinct sensations. It commences with the grape varietal’s bouquet. When poured into the corresponding varietal stemware, it heightens the quality and intensity of the wine’s aroma.
Texture is of utmost importance for the grape varietal to excite the palate. The appropriate glass offers a mouthfeel that’s creamy, silky, watery, or velvety. It ensures a harmonious interplay between the wine’s fruitiness, minerality, acidity, and bitterness. Lastly, the finish is a key factor, promising a pleasant, well-balanced experience with a lasting aftertaste that brings a smile.
Riedel firmly believes that all wines, regardless of age, color, or effervescence, benefit from the transformative process of decanting. The company offers 8 different decanters, allowing wines to flourish and attain a level of maturity that typically takes years of aging. These decanters are described as “elegant, complex handmade designs” by Riedel.
Each Riedel decanter stands as a work of art. Among these, the Ultra is celebrated for its elegance, while the Mamba decanter boasts a dramatic appearance, somewhat resembling a coiled glass cobra. “Decanting wine liberates the aromas,” Riedel explains. “It intensifies the fruitiness and smoothens the texture.”
Decanting becomes particularly important for older wines, separating them from any accumulated sediments, while drinking from a Riedel glass heightens the entire culinary experience and awakens the senses.
