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. Praised in 1991 by Robert Parker, Jr., publisher of The Wine Advocate, as "The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make." Thanks to worldwide demand, Sommeliers is now the wineglass benchmark and the most successful series of hand-made glasses in the world. Each glass is individually made: the upper parts blown into a mould, the stem and base hand-crafted using methods developed at the time of Christ’s birth. Our glass-makers invest their talent, know-how-and meticulous craftsmanship in making glasses of the impeccable quality our consumers expect. Sommeliers are executed in over 24% lead crystal.