Mister Riedel
01 March 2011 Filed in: Profiles Food & Wine
When it comes to polish, probably the only thing shinier than an elegant Riedel wine glass is Mr Riedel himself. Scion of the family dynasty, Maximilian J Riedel, visited Dublin before Christmas to present a pair of master classes for the trade and general public. He is very much his father’s son, though where the latter can be a trifle aloof Maximilian exudes suave charm. He has also inherited Georg’s impeccable taste in clothes. Five buttons on the jacket cuff, fine brown brogues, brightly coloured silk pocket handkerchief, crisply knotted tie… though the massive wristwatch sits a little awkwardly amidst such elegance.
He speaks precisely, in near-faultless English, carefully crafting his sentences to get a clear message across. ‘Vague’ is not an adjective that could ever be applied to him. Born in 1977 he joined the firm in 1997 and has been CEO of the American operation since 2004. The company can trace its origins back to 1756 but it is only in the last 50 or so years that wine glasses have become its principal product. This was initiated by Maximilian’s grandfather, Claus J Riedel, who came up with the then startling idea that wine should be served in thin, clear, rimless glasses rather than stout-stemmed, elaborately cut or coloured vessels. He wanted the glass to show the wine to best effect and not vice-versa. His original creation, the Burgundy Grand Cru glass designed in 1958, is still in production and is a magnificent example of the glassmaker’s art, so much so that it forms part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Claus passed away in 2004, living long enough to witness the huge expansion in the family firm effected by his son, Georg J Riedel, and his grandson. Though based in the United States, Maximilian is quick to point out the importance of the Chinese market in the company’s future plans: “We have just launched Riedel Crystal of China”, which is a distribution, and emphatically not a manufacturing, facility: “No, not manufacturing, we would not make that mistake because Chinese would not buy ‘Made in China’. We are looking at China in terms of becoming a future market, as it has become for wine already. We have been working the Chinese market for the past 15 years but only in the last couple of years, since the Olympic games or just before, has wine become a driving force in the industry and we wanted to be right there from the beginning.” As a base for the new operation the cosmopolitan Shanghai was favoured over the more staid and traditional Beijing: “Whoever knows about the Chinese market knows that Shanghai is the place to be.” The unique position of Hong Kong has not been ignored either: “We have been in Hong Kong for the last 30 years and of course now with no tax on wine it has become a wine Mecca, where the wine auctions are most successful.” Also in Hong Kong is the world’s first ‘Riedel Room’, a wine bar at the JW Marriott Hotel that is a shrine to all things Riedel.
Innovation, in the form of a constantly evolving and expanding range of wine glasses and decanters (to the point of consumer bewilderment, some might say) has always been a hallmark of Riedel and this looks set to continue. The wine style currently under the microscope is champagne, which is understandable, as champagne flutes have never been a strength of the Riedel range. Where most of their glasses have enjoyed a conspicuous advantage over competitors’ offerings, the flutes have never stood out as being noticeably better. If Maximilian Riedel has his way this is all about to change, not by way of improving the flutes but by abandoning them altogether: “One trend which I believe I was crucial in initiating is to stop drinking champagne from flutes. We will be pushing hard to lay the right path for this. I had a tasting with Richard Geoffroy [Chef de Cave, Dom Pérignon] and this year he launched Dom Pérignon in a Pinot Noir glass. This is the new trend, I believe, where the whole champagne industry becomes more and more a wine industry. Champagne has wonderful aroma, wonderful nose, lots of fruit and why not drink it from an appropriate glass?”
Appropriate wine glasses aside, Riedel is also involved in areas of glass production that will come as a surprise to most wine lovers. “We are venturing into different industries that are glass related. The car industry is very keen on our capabilities for headlights, the industry is moving away from plastic, because the longevity of plastic, exposed to rain and acidity or whatever, is not there, so the whole car industry goes back to glass. We are already producing headlights for truck companies such as Mercedes.”
Thus future growth for Riedel looks assured. With regard to his own future, Maximilian Riedel is coy as to whether he will move back to Austria or not when he eventually succeeds his father as head of the company. Citing the ease of modern communications he makes the point that: “It doesn’t matter where you sit.” One senses that after the bright lights of New York and the fast cars that he collects Austria might be a little straight laced. Wherever he chooses to base himself wine lovers can be sure that the ceaseless stream of new products that has characterised Riedel for the past few decades will continue well into the future.
TAKE CARE
Riedel suggests that you should spend the same amount on a glass as you would on a decent bottle of wine – and then take good care of it. All the glasses are dishwasher friendly, they just need to be handled gently to avoid unnecessary breakages. Load them carefully so that they are stable and not touching one another, wash on a short cycle and open the dishwasher as soon as it is finished. Don’t start it up last thing at night as this leaves the glasses to ‘cook’. If you have time give them a gentle polish with a clean cloth to remove any remaining drips of water that may dry to a stain. And, finally, do not attempt any of the above after a bibulous dinner party. Go to bed.
A GLASS FOR EVERY WINE
If you are a “one size fits all” sort of person then look away now. A reasonably careful trawl through the Riedel 2010 catalogue reveals a total of about 12 dozen different glasses and over two dozen decanters. Why so many? At Riedel “content commands shape”, thus every wine style and every grape variety are subjected to a detailed analysis of their signature qualities. Questions are asked. Is it acidic? Tannic? Fruity? And so forth. The glass is then designed to deliver the wine to that part of the palate most receptive to the wine’s primary flavour. Which sounds like a load of old marketing hokum until you try it. I first did so back in 1998 and, but for the fact that I saw with my own eyes the same wine being poured into a host of widely differing glasses, I would never have believed that they all contained the same wine. Each glass had a remarkable influence on how the wine smelt and tasted. But, notwithstanding the huge expense, do you really need to fill your house with dozens of different wine glasses? An emphatic ‘no’ is the answer to that question. All you need is the Riesling/Chianti Classico – as used in all our tastings here at Food & Wine.
WHY DECANT?
The wine trade adage that: “A young wine needs decanting and an old one deserves it”, contains more than a grain of truth. And it applies to just about any style of wine you can think of. With a young wine that hasn’t thrown any sediment simply upend the bottle into the decanter, letting the wine splash and froth and don’t forget to do this with white wines also. An older wine, like a venerable claret, needs gentler handling, pouring carefully in one go while holding the neck over a candle or other light source to show up the sediment. Stop as soon as you see this and add the dregs to your gravy. A simple ‘flask’ shape decanter is all you need and Riedel make a number of these along with a host of others in convoluted shapes and sizes. Don’t let the almost sculptural beauty of these dazzle you too much – they are a nightmare to clean.
Article originally published in Food & Wine Magazine, Jan/Feb 2011
He speaks precisely, in near-faultless English, carefully crafting his sentences to get a clear message across. ‘Vague’ is not an adjective that could ever be applied to him. Born in 1977 he joined the firm in 1997 and has been CEO of the American operation since 2004. The company can trace its origins back to 1756 but it is only in the last 50 or so years that wine glasses have become its principal product. This was initiated by Maximilian’s grandfather, Claus J Riedel, who came up with the then startling idea that wine should be served in thin, clear, rimless glasses rather than stout-stemmed, elaborately cut or coloured vessels. He wanted the glass to show the wine to best effect and not vice-versa. His original creation, the Burgundy Grand Cru glass designed in 1958, is still in production and is a magnificent example of the glassmaker’s art, so much so that it forms part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Claus passed away in 2004, living long enough to witness the huge expansion in the family firm effected by his son, Georg J Riedel, and his grandson. Though based in the United States, Maximilian is quick to point out the importance of the Chinese market in the company’s future plans: “We have just launched Riedel Crystal of China”, which is a distribution, and emphatically not a manufacturing, facility: “No, not manufacturing, we would not make that mistake because Chinese would not buy ‘Made in China’. We are looking at China in terms of becoming a future market, as it has become for wine already. We have been working the Chinese market for the past 15 years but only in the last couple of years, since the Olympic games or just before, has wine become a driving force in the industry and we wanted to be right there from the beginning.” As a base for the new operation the cosmopolitan Shanghai was favoured over the more staid and traditional Beijing: “Whoever knows about the Chinese market knows that Shanghai is the place to be.” The unique position of Hong Kong has not been ignored either: “We have been in Hong Kong for the last 30 years and of course now with no tax on wine it has become a wine Mecca, where the wine auctions are most successful.” Also in Hong Kong is the world’s first ‘Riedel Room’, a wine bar at the JW Marriott Hotel that is a shrine to all things Riedel.
Innovation, in the form of a constantly evolving and expanding range of wine glasses and decanters (to the point of consumer bewilderment, some might say) has always been a hallmark of Riedel and this looks set to continue. The wine style currently under the microscope is champagne, which is understandable, as champagne flutes have never been a strength of the Riedel range. Where most of their glasses have enjoyed a conspicuous advantage over competitors’ offerings, the flutes have never stood out as being noticeably better. If Maximilian Riedel has his way this is all about to change, not by way of improving the flutes but by abandoning them altogether: “One trend which I believe I was crucial in initiating is to stop drinking champagne from flutes. We will be pushing hard to lay the right path for this. I had a tasting with Richard Geoffroy [Chef de Cave, Dom Pérignon] and this year he launched Dom Pérignon in a Pinot Noir glass. This is the new trend, I believe, where the whole champagne industry becomes more and more a wine industry. Champagne has wonderful aroma, wonderful nose, lots of fruit and why not drink it from an appropriate glass?”
Appropriate wine glasses aside, Riedel is also involved in areas of glass production that will come as a surprise to most wine lovers. “We are venturing into different industries that are glass related. The car industry is very keen on our capabilities for headlights, the industry is moving away from plastic, because the longevity of plastic, exposed to rain and acidity or whatever, is not there, so the whole car industry goes back to glass. We are already producing headlights for truck companies such as Mercedes.”
Thus future growth for Riedel looks assured. With regard to his own future, Maximilian Riedel is coy as to whether he will move back to Austria or not when he eventually succeeds his father as head of the company. Citing the ease of modern communications he makes the point that: “It doesn’t matter where you sit.” One senses that after the bright lights of New York and the fast cars that he collects Austria might be a little straight laced. Wherever he chooses to base himself wine lovers can be sure that the ceaseless stream of new products that has characterised Riedel for the past few decades will continue well into the future.
TAKE CARE
Riedel suggests that you should spend the same amount on a glass as you would on a decent bottle of wine – and then take good care of it. All the glasses are dishwasher friendly, they just need to be handled gently to avoid unnecessary breakages. Load them carefully so that they are stable and not touching one another, wash on a short cycle and open the dishwasher as soon as it is finished. Don’t start it up last thing at night as this leaves the glasses to ‘cook’. If you have time give them a gentle polish with a clean cloth to remove any remaining drips of water that may dry to a stain. And, finally, do not attempt any of the above after a bibulous dinner party. Go to bed.
A GLASS FOR EVERY WINE
If you are a “one size fits all” sort of person then look away now. A reasonably careful trawl through the Riedel 2010 catalogue reveals a total of about 12 dozen different glasses and over two dozen decanters. Why so many? At Riedel “content commands shape”, thus every wine style and every grape variety are subjected to a detailed analysis of their signature qualities. Questions are asked. Is it acidic? Tannic? Fruity? And so forth. The glass is then designed to deliver the wine to that part of the palate most receptive to the wine’s primary flavour. Which sounds like a load of old marketing hokum until you try it. I first did so back in 1998 and, but for the fact that I saw with my own eyes the same wine being poured into a host of widely differing glasses, I would never have believed that they all contained the same wine. Each glass had a remarkable influence on how the wine smelt and tasted. But, notwithstanding the huge expense, do you really need to fill your house with dozens of different wine glasses? An emphatic ‘no’ is the answer to that question. All you need is the Riesling/Chianti Classico – as used in all our tastings here at Food & Wine.
WHY DECANT?
The wine trade adage that: “A young wine needs decanting and an old one deserves it”, contains more than a grain of truth. And it applies to just about any style of wine you can think of. With a young wine that hasn’t thrown any sediment simply upend the bottle into the decanter, letting the wine splash and froth and don’t forget to do this with white wines also. An older wine, like a venerable claret, needs gentler handling, pouring carefully in one go while holding the neck over a candle or other light source to show up the sediment. Stop as soon as you see this and add the dregs to your gravy. A simple ‘flask’ shape decanter is all you need and Riedel make a number of these along with a host of others in convoluted shapes and sizes. Don’t let the almost sculptural beauty of these dazzle you too much – they are a nightmare to clean.
Article originally published in Food & Wine Magazine, Jan/Feb 2011
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