Sommeliers Alsace Riedel

Recommended for: Aligoté, Chasselas, Chenin Blanc, Cortese, Fumé Blanc, Fendant, Furmint (try), Gewürztraminer, Gutedel, Kerner, Melon de Bourgogne (Muscadet), Muscadet, Müller-Thurgau, Muskateller, Muskat-Ottonel, Neuburger, Palomino (except Sherry), Pinot (Blanc, Grigio, Gris), Recioto di Soave, Ribolla Gialla, Rotgipfler, Ruländer, Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc, Soave, Trebbiano, Vin de Savoie (blanc), Zierfandler

Introduced in 1973 as part of the original Sommeliers series, the Alsace 4400/05 has always been highly regarded by our customers. Today, 40 years later, however, it has become a kind of compromise. 

After the development of the Loire 4400/05, which offered a new concept in wine drinking, the Alsace glass was no longer the first choice for main varietals such as Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer. In Riedel workshops, our glasses are tested again and again by some of the world's best wine experts. Strengths and weaknesses are evaluated through tastings; this enables us to review our glass recommendations - and even change them. 

And that is why we still recommend the Alsace 4400/05 for dry, medium-bodied white wines with balanced acidity. The glass's spherical form offers an excellent advantage: allowing the fruit and mineral components of the wine to be fully revealed. The size of the glass optimizes the concentration of fresh aromas.

SOMMELIERS (1973): Professor CLAUS J. RIEDEL was the first designer to recognize that the bouquet, taste, balance and finish of wines are affected by the shape of the glass from which they are consumed. More than 50 years ago he began his pioneering work to create stemware that would match and complement different wines and spirits. In the late 1950s, RIEDEL started to produce glasses, which at that time were a design revolution. Thin-blown, unadorned, reducing the design to its essence: bowl, stem, base. Working with experienced tasters, RIEDEL discovered that wine enjoyed from his glasses showed more depth and better balance than when served in other glasses. CLAUS J. RIEDEL laid the groundwork for stemware which was functional as well as beautiful, and made according to the Bauhaus design principle: form follows function. In 1961 a revolutionary concept was introduced, when the Riedel catalogue featured the first line of wine glasses created in different sizes and shapes. Before this, conventional stemware had used a single basic bowl shape, with only the size varying depending on use. The concept was illustrated to perfection with the introduction of the Sommeliers series in 1973, which achieved worldwide recognition. A glass was born that turns a sip into a celebration -a wine's best friend - fine-tuned to match the grape! We invite you to share this fascinating and unique experience. You don't need to be a wine writer, a wine maker or an expert to taste the difference that a RIEDEL glass can make. SOMMELIERS is executed in lead crystal, mouth blown in Austria.