Georg Riedel, 10th generation glassmaker and president of Riedel Crystal, is also an engineer, designer, economist, marketer and businessman. On top of that, Georg is an avid long-distance runner and has competed in the New York City Marathon five times.

Upon taking the reins of the company, Georg Riedel instituted financial controls at the glassworks that insured the company would remain in family hands. He also broadened distribution and opened new export markets.

In the early 1980's, he created the Glass Workshop in which he works with leading wine and spirits producers to develop new glass shapes that best enhance the world's most exciting and complex beverages.

His philosophy of glassmaking can be summed up as follows: "Glass design by trial and error means fine tuning the shape for the wine's specific qualities," says Riedel. "The glass becomes the wine's 'loudspeaker' to transmit the message of the beverage to the human senses." Riedel feels that only by working in concert with winemakers can he achieve that goal.

In 1986 Georg developed Vinum, the first premium machine-blown crystal glasses tailor made for different wine and beverage varieties. Over the next 15 years he expanded on this concept - introducing Ouverture; Vinum Extreme; Riedel Restaurant, exclusively for the on-premise trade. When his son Maximilian came up with the idea for the 'O' glass, Georg saw the possibilities and encouraged him to create what is now the top selling line for Riedel in America.

Georg Riedel resides in Kufstein, Austria, with his wife Eva, who runs the company stores in Kufstein, Vienna and Munich. Planning for the day when the 11th generation takes over, Georg Riedel has purchased a 37-hectare retirement property in Monte Rotondo in the Maremma region of Tuscany.