Riedel is a family business established 265 years ago and passed down from father to son. We have been glassmakers since 1756. I am the 11th generation of this tradition. My grandfather Klaus Riedel designed the predecessor of the modern wine glass in 1957 (he holds said wine glass up to the screen). At the time, this egg-shaped stemmed wine glass, with thin sides and no embellishments, was something of a revolution. Up until then, it was fashionable to drink wine in heavy, ornate, cut glasses. My grandfather was a designer and part of the Bauhaus art movement and its “Less is more” philosophy. He understood that the shape should be dictated by functionality. He was a pioneer, and the first to say that the contents were more important than the glass itself. He simply had to create a glass that expressed the contents as best as possible. He thus began collaborating with sommeliers to design different glasses with characteristics adapted to whites, reds, sweet white wines and champagne.