RIEDEL

Riedel Crystal was founded in 1756 by Johann Leopold Riedel in Bohemia.

Today its one of the most popular glass-producing enterprise all over the world.

About 40 years ago Claus Riedel, the ninth Riedel-generation, detected that the same wine tasted dissimilar out of different glasses.

His son Georg Riedel further developed the concept. He discovered that the correct choice of a glass enhances the flavours of wines.

They started to produce glasses which were in design reduced to their essence. Bowl-Stem-Base. At that time it was a design revolution. Since them Riedel produced over 100 different wine glasses.

1958 Riedel introduced the Burgundy Grand Cru glass, the only stemware on permanent display in New Yorks City´s Museum of Modern Art.

In 1973 Claus Riedel presented the worlds first gourmet glass series, called sommeliers, which consisted of 10 different sizes. There are 6 different series: Sommeliers, Vinum, Vinum extreme, Wine, Ouverture and Basic. They vary in quality and price.

Riedel´s belief when it comes to develop a shape is that design ideas are not born on a drawing board but shaped by trial and error with the help and support of the world´s greatest palates. A person interested in wine is led by colour, bouquet and taste. He often doesn`t consider the glass which is an instrument to convey the message of the wine.

A wineglass should be

Colourless

Transparent

Unadorned

Thin-walled

With a cut and polished lip

Egg-shaped

Stemmed

Made of lead crystal

3 glasses of the sommelier series:

This serie consists 24 % lead crystal. The bowl is mouth blown and the lip is cut and polished. One of these glasses costs about 400 to 500 schillings. The glasses can be washed in the dishwasher or by hand and they need no special care. Before serving wine the glasses should be washed.

Bordeaux:

This glas is perfect for young, full-bodied this means more than 12 percent alcohol, complex red wines that are high in tannin.

It smoothes out the rough edges, emphasizing the fruit  and allows the wines to achieve a balance that would normally take years of ageing to aquire.

The size of this glass allows the bouquet to develop fully. The shape directs the flow of wine onto the zone of the tongue which perceives sweetness.

This glass is recommended for

Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

Sauvignon blanc

This glass makes the taste of Sauvignon blanc, Rotgipfler, Spätrot-Rotgipfler and Zierfandler fuller and tastier.

Champagne

How do you keep the bubbles in sparkling wine??

The solution lies at the bottom of the glass. Etched into each glass is a small dot, that generates a continuous stream of bubbles and prevent the champagne from going flat in the glass.

The Millenium Glass 2001

The Stem on the glass is formed by a slightly rounded European number 1 that melts into the flutes base. The glass is blown in crystal. This glass is the fourth in a series of six limited edition flutes. The bowl is designed to maximize the pleasures of Champagne.

Riedel has got two factory outlets which are both in Austria.

In Kufstein glasses are made by mouth. The basic materials of quartz, lime and alkalis are heated up to a temperature of 1000° Celsius to make them liquid and malleable. Then the glass is formed by a blowpipe.

The second factory is in Schneegattern were you also can watch the glass makers at their work.

Riedel is known as a high quality glass-producing company all around the world. Good restaurants serve their wines in Riedel products.

Robert Mondavi a famous wine producer said after tasting his own wine out of a Riedel glass:

I never dreamed my wines were this good!

Georg Riedel said

Better wine is being produced today by more people in more places than ever before in history, with world class wine being made by literally thousands of wine makers. Wine enthusiasts go to great lengths to discover these wines, buy them in sound condition, store them properly, serve them at the correct temperature and in surroundings that enhance them. Shouldn't they also drink them from glasses that bring their maximum beauty?

Riedel Crystal Austria is today a growing business. With 280 employees, the company remains middle sized. In the four decades of its existence in Austria, it has succeeded in establishing itself as a global brand. The family is looking forward to the work of future generations: Georg's children, Laetizia and Maximilian Riedel, the eleventh generation, are set to continue the family tradition, bearing the glass maker's torch into the future.