Many wine lovers have probably heard of RIEDEL glasses or have RIEDEL glasses. I have a few sets, with many glasses that have broken over time. Such is the fate of all wine glasses eventually. But what do you know about the history of RIEDEL glasses?
I recently received an advanced copy of the “Heart of Glass, RIEDEL and the Art of Taste” by teNeues with a foreword from Maximilian Josef Riedel. This book, although not yet fully complete, provides us with the background and history of the RIEDEL family before they began making wine glasses and where they are now making more than just wine glasses. Their story covers 270 years, 11 generations, and counting. The book has many pictures showing the family as well as the production of their wine glasses and decanters. There are also pictures of wine glasses from different series shown, such as their Vinum series. There are so many more series of wine glasses that I did not know about. The book is set for release in North America on Sept. 1, 2026.
History
The book takes us through a timeline of the RIEDEL family, starting with the founding generation, which is Johann Christoph Riedel (1672-1723), in northwestern Bohemia. There are a few short paragraphs about him and the milestones from the first generation. We then learn about Johannn Leopold Riedel (1726-1800), bringing RIDEL into one of the largest producers of semi-finished products for glass jewelery manufacturing, followed by Franz Xaver Riedel (1786-1844), Joseph Riedel the Younger (1862-1924),and Walter Riedel (1895-1974). Walter was involved with the German armed forces in WWII, captured and as a result lost all their assets, which began the next phase of glass production with wine glasses, thanks to the Swarovski family.
The first modern wine glasses that we now use come from development by Claus Josef Riedel (1925-2004) to invent the “wine-friendly” wine glass. The book details the Sommeliers collection, the world’s first wine glass series with shapes explicitly designed for enjoying wine.
Georg Josef Riedel (1949) brought RIDEL glasses to America and innovation with the first machine-produced glass series in history for various wine and grape varieties: Vinum. The book talks about renowned winemaking figures that Georg met with, converting them into partners and supporters of the RIEDEL brand. In 1996 he was awarded The “Decanter Man of the Year” award for outstanding personalities in the wine world, followed by many more awards.
Which leads us to the current generation, with Maximilian Josef Riedel (1977). Maximilian Josef Riedel brought the “O” series of stemless wine glasses which you may have used. He also designed and won many awards for decanter design. Lastly, you may have attended a RIEDEL wine tasting seminar, the so-called “Wine Glass Experience” where you can see for yourself how differently the same wine tastes in differently shaped wine glasses.
Wine Glasses
Part of the book discusses how and where their hand-blown wine glasses are made in Kufstein, using a pipe blower to create each glass, resulting in each glass being unique. The book also discusses how RIEDEL added machinery in the Bavarian cities of Amberg and Weiden to make glasses that closely approach the quality of mouth-blown pieces. Their RIEDEL Veloce is one of the newest machine-made glasses that features a diamond shape and has taller bowls and thinner stems. I’ve attended one of the Wine Glass Experiences and tasted wines using the Veloce wine glasses. They are very nice glasses.
The book talks about the different wine glasses that are made for a specific varietal, e.g., Pinot Noir, but also for a specific region, such as for Oregon vs. New Zealand, or Burgundy. Each glass is made to balance the characteristics of the region. There are of course Champagne glasses produced by REIDEL in collaboration with a famous champagne house.
RIEDEL has also branched out into making glasses for coffee with their Nespresso Reveal Collection, as well as a glass for whisky, tequila, pisco, and believe it or not, Coca-Cola. Pictures are shown for these glasses as well.
The latest chapter in RIEDEL’s legacy is the creation of the RIEDEL Manufaktur collection in 2025 in anticipation of its 270th anniversary. This collection celebrates European craftsmanship and comprises two new glassware series, RIEDEL Vitis
and RIEDEL Bellorotondo, as well as a decanter that echoes the collection’s design language.
To Conclude
If you are a wine lover and owner of RIEDEL glasses, you may want to pick up a copy of this book, just to learn a bit about the history and then to find out about the many different series of wine glasses produced by the RIEDEL family. It is written in a very straight forward, narrative style which may be a little too formal for some people, but there are many pictures of the different wine glasses so that you can put a design/shape to a series. Cheers.
The book is listed on Amazon.ca, but not available for purchase.
