Max Riedel is just the coolest

Consider this a love letter. Airmail priority, to Kufstein, Austria, please

This is neither about the Riedel glasses or decanters or any of the other stuff they make. I’m talking about Max Riedel, the man - who I think is possibly the coolest person in wine. Today’s article is my argument for why I think that this is so.

If you are unfamiliar with Max Riedel, I will have to presume that that is (on balance) quite a good thing. I make this presumption since it means you either a) don’t spend long enough on instagram to dream up long-form opinions about glassmakers or b) are able to resist the urge to spend vast amounts of money on variety specific glassware and decanters that tower over small children (If any of the Riedel marketing team happen to be reading this, rest assured I have no doubt they are all worthwhile purchases)

Reason 1: The fits

I remember watching an episode of revered proselyte of natural wine Clovis Ochin’s series in French on YouTube and seeing a comment that read

“I used to think I didn’t like natural wines. It turns out I don’t like the people who drink them either”.

Phenomenal chat from whoever came up with that one.

Frankly, I don’t blame whoever it was. The start of every episode opens up to Ochin strutting around a warehouse in a backward orange flat cap, two zip hoodies (red underneath, broad navy and white strip on top) finished off with some classic slip-on vans.

It’s a lot to take in. It isn’t made any easier to take in when cuts are then made to Ochin looking like a deer stalker in a wine cellar and Ochin at a party with Action Bronson, all while you are reading the subtitles telling you about “vin vivant”.

Think of it as a sartorial and natural wine slant on Steve Bannon’s “Flood the Scene”.

You’d think I’d be gearing up to claim say that flamboyant outfits and wine content don’t mix, and yet Max Riedel has managed to don some truly trailblazing outfits. He’s also managed to do so whilst still amassing a following of nearly three quarters of a million people.

Personal favourites include a neon orange, corduroy, Montclair button down jacket, a pink, double breasted smoking jacket, and also that one time where he decided to don full Japanese garb and learn how to use a Katana. What can this man not do? He makes Clovis Ochin look like he’s wearing school uniform by comparison, and all he need do is wave some bottles of first growth Bordeaux in our faces and somehow we are none the wiser.

source: @maxiriedel instagram

Reason 2: Never a bad word to say

I don’t know if you’ve been following his instagram as much as I have. In all honesty I prefer not to follow Max and instead treat myself to periodic binges to see which bottles of the 1950s and 60s he’s opened up in the month since I last checked in.

but never, and I mean never, has he said that the wine is shit.

This might be unsurprising considering he almost exclusively drinks the likes of Dom P and Petrus. However, this was really made clear when he came up against Elton John’s 0% sparkling wine.

I know you’re going to tell me that he was paid to say what he said. You’re probably right, but he could’ve refused, or just poured himself a glass and said “that’ll do”. Instead unwrapped a bottle from a category of drinks that wine writers love to dump on, he sat down, and respected it as he would any other wine - even taking the time to find out which of his bajillion glasses suits it best.

Reason 3: No A.I.*

Max Riedel probably has loads of money. You can tell just by looking at his hair - a ‘do that is reminiscent of some marquess of a late 18th century European micro state.

He probably also doesn’t have a lot of time. Men who pour champagne onto towers of coupe glasses that they’ve glued to a waiter’s tray whilst wake surfing behind their yacht famously don’t have a lot of time. Yet he doesn’t use A.I. to generate any of his content.

Amongst the greatest “Sunday wine fun day”s there was

I’ll say it again for the people at the back

He doesn’t use A.I. to generate any of his content

It’s possible I’m alone in arguing for this one, but I really do think that wine content and A.I. content is like mixing water and oil.

Someone’s gone to the hassle of growing grapes for an entire year (growing the vines for longer). They’ve pressed the grapes and allowed various consortia of microbes to ferment it and now you’re going to just plop a little prompt into some A.I. tool and go and relax? Where’s the whole thing about wine being a representation of a time and a place gone? An A.I. image is neither really from a time or a place.

I understand everything today is but vying for attention spans in an ever saturating pool of content, but I’d say if you want to fully respect the work of the winemakers you’re writing about and want your readers to give you the time your asking for, be more like Max.

Glass blowing is just f*cking cool

This is my last point then I’ll stop gushing, I promise.

Arguably this is less about Max himself but we must remember that he is the rep of his brand. Glass blowing is one of the coolest things to see. Working a second order phase transition material (ie something that has an intermediate, ‘sticky’, phase when melting instead of liquifying like water or metal) has probably mesmerised those who observe it being done since human’s understood how to work glass.

Add to that that Riedel employs these Jeff Woad type characters, with sleeveless shirts and massive metal necklaces that look like a clamp for a car wheel, and its probably some of the best stuff you can find on Instagram. As I mentioned, I don’t have any Riedel products. I wouldn’t trust myself with a decanter of his either.

One last thing

let’s just appreciate the way he pronounces aeration. We are talking about the top dog of all things wine glasses here. Mr Decanter Supreme. He does not say “air-RAY-shun” but instead opts for “air-REE-ay-shun”. So don’t start accusing people of not knowing anything about a subject just because they pronounced something wrong. It clearly doesn’t matter that much.

I had this article in my drafts before Joe Fattorini recently interviewed him for his podcast but didn’t know when to release it. If you wan’t to see a more serious and educational side of the man, I would recommend watching it: