Shown Above: The Sommeliers Magnum Decanter.

In 1973, in Orvieto, Claus Riedel presented the world’s first gourmet glass series developed with the help of the Association of Italian Sommeliers (ASI). The series consisted of 10 sizes. Since then the world of wine has changed radically. Today, regions and continents are producing wines that didn’t exist or were unknown 25 years ago. The Sommeliers series was developed further by his son Georg, into an all-embracing state-of-the-art wine glass collection. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. Thanks to worldwide demand, Sommeliers is now the wineglass benchmark and the most successful series of hand-made glasses in the world. Decanting is believed to allow the bouquet of the wine to improve and become more complex as the aroma of the fruit is emitted and sensed by the person drinking the wine. Those who are opposed to decanting for flavor purposes feel that wine becomes flat tasting as it is decanted and the process reduces the quality of the fresh fruity flavors so often sought in a good wine. Click here to learn how to care for your crystal.