Georg Riedel looks at a wine glass and sees an instrument, an essential tool needed to enhance the flavour of the drink and to add to the pleasure of consuming it.
The ardent wine connoisseur, a 10th-generation descendant of the Austrian glass-making company that bears his family's name, knows he is not alone in insisting that even the most modest wines should be served in the appropriate vessel: the thickness of the rim and stem, the width of the glass, the way in which it is held - all these seemingly inconsequential details must be considered.
Anything less, he said, diminished the value of even the humblest oenological experience. 'The amount of work that goes into producing any wine is unimaginable,' said Mr Riedel. 'It is the responsibility of the connoisseur to drink it properly.' Mr Riedel was in Hong Kong last week for the Wines of the Pacific Rim Festival. While here, he took part in masterclasses, where he set out to prove that even the most subtle difference between glasses could make a dramatic difference in the taste of the wine.
The concept was spearheaded by Mr Riedel's father. And while perfecting the art of wine-drinking is a labour of love for Mr Riedel, the company's expertise in the field is also seen as 'a service to the wine industry'.
'Ours is a very specific and growing market niche. More and more of our competitors are keen on getting into it. But we are known in the world of wine as specialised makers of wine glasses,' he said.
More importantly, he wants to prove that not only serious wine aficionados would be able to appreciate the lesser enjoyment derived from drinking a bordeaux from a glass designed for a chianti, or sipping a sauternes from a vessel best used for a chardonnay.
'Anyone who drinks wine can taste the difference,' said Mr Riedel. 'The perfect glass controls the delivery of the wine at a certain part of the tongue, which has the greatest ability to balance the components of the wine.' The right stemware, believes Mr Riedel, succeeds in 'balancing the levels of acidity and alcohol'. And because wine should always be sipped, using the appropriate glass 'ensures proper control'.