Broken glass: Maximilian Riedel’s crusade against the flute
The glassmaker tells us why your wine is really only as good as the glass you pour it into...
Words: Joseph Bullmore
Photography: Jooney Woodward
“Here’s how to smell wine the real way,” says Maximillian Riedel, languidly spinning an elegant wine glass so the strawcoloured liquid dances up to the rim, and drawing two deep breaths, his eyes shut, from the belly of the bulb.
This little interplay between glass and grape is the defining ritual of Maximillian’s life work — as the 11th generation scion of the great glassmaking dynasty, the designer is more responsible for the way we drink wine today than perhaps any other man on the planet.
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