La Loupe Kitzbühel No. 6

In 2013 Maximilian Josef Riedel took
over the Kufstein-based family business
Riedel Glas in the eleventh generation.
At the age of twelve he learned the
family trade from his father and at the
age of 18 he decided to start his career in
the family company. On top of his role
as CEO, Maximilian Riedel also is head
designer for the glass maker’s decanter
series. The Austrian glass creations have
received awards from the Museum of
Modern Art, San Francisco’s MoMA or
the Corning Museum of Glass. And in
2015 La Revue du Vin de France made
Maximilian J. Riedel part of their list of
the 200 most influential personalities
in the world of wine – which makes him
the only glass maker worldwide to have
made that list.
L.L. In 2008 TIME Magazine wrote that
Riedel Glas has done more to enhance
the oenophile’s pleasure than almost
any winemaking dynasty. Could you
tell us the secret to your success?
M.R. Before Claus Riedel, wine glasses
were tapered, like cups, from coloured
and often even cut glass which, all in
all, was often heavy and unwieldy.
With Claus Riedel began the time of the
minimalist, unadorned, egg-shaped
glass which is well-balanced. The wine
glass you see everywhere today – no
matter who it’s made by – has its origins
in my grandfather’s very first series of
wine-friendly glasses.
“The wine glass
you see everywhere
today – no matter
who it’s made
by – has its origins
in my grandfather’s
very first series
of wine-friendly
glasses.”
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However, Riedel stands for more than that – we stand for
functional glasses, which means that our glasses and de ­
canters are tools for enjoying wine. We like to call our glasses
the loudspeakers of wine because they present wine in its best
possible form and bring out its character. From the beginning
on we have been working closely with winemakers because
for them it’s paramount that their wine can present itself in
the best possible way.
L.L. With your glasses and their special shapes one can
experience “the message of wine” in an unparalleled fashion.
What does that mean, exactly?
M.R. Riedel glasses are made to underline each grape
varietal’s specific characteristics, thus guiding the wine and
creating a perfect harmony of tastes on the palate and the
tongue. We want to give people a taste experience that is as
close to perfection as possible. We invest a lot of time and
effort, we regularly test our glasses and make adjustments
where necessary. The last glass we tested was that for the
Austrian wine speciality Grüner Veltliner and we tested it
together with Austria’s leading winemakers during four
workshops in lower Austria.