Burgundy Glass

What is Burgundy Glass? Burgundy Glass is a wide-bowled, balloon-shaped red wine glass engineered to concentrate the delicate aromas of light- to medium-bodied reds, most famously Pinot Noir from Burgundy and Nebbiolo-based Barolo and Barbaresco. Its broad, rounded bowl flares into a tulip-shaped rim that directs the wine to the tip of the tongue, softening acidity and letting fruit purity speak before alcohol asserts itself. The modern varietal-specific form was created by Claus Josef Riedel in 1958 and refined in the Sommeliers series in 1973, establishing the now-familiar principle that the shape of a glass affects how a wine tastes.

Origin and Design Philosophy

Claus Josef Riedel (1925-2004), the ninth-generation owner of Riedel Crystal in Austria, introduced the first Burgundy Grand Cru glass at the 1958 Brussels World Exhibition, where it won a Gold Medal. It is considered the first piece of stemware in history engineered to match a specific grape variety, and it launched the idea that bowl geometry could shape perception of aroma, acidity, and balance.

The design follows a strict form-follows-function logic, influenced by Bauhaus thinking and stripped of ornamentation. Riedel's contemporaneous Exquisit stemware sits in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1973 he expanded the concept into the Sommeliers Series, the world's first grape-specific gourmet glass line, with each piece mouth-blown to preserve the precise proportions of the original prototypes.

How It Is Used

The Burgundy bowl is noticeably wider and rounder than a Bordeaux glass, which is taller with a narrower, more elongated profile suited to full-bodied Cabernet and Merlot blends. The greater surface area of the Burgundy bowl gives volatile aromatics more room to gather, which is exactly what subtle, perfumed grapes like Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo need to express rose, cherry, truffle, and forest-floor notes.

The flared rim is not decorative. It guides the first sip to the front of the palate, where sweetness and fruit are perceived most clearly, balancing the bright acidity these wines typically carry. For reference, the Riedel Sommeliers Burgundy Grand Cru (model 4400/16) holds approximately 1050 ml and stands roughly 24.7 cm tall, placing it among the largest production wine bowls made.

When to Choose It

Reach for a Burgundy glass when the wine is built on finesse rather than power: red and white Burgundy at the top of the list, then Barolo, Barbaresco, and other Nebbiolo wines, along with lighter aromatic reds where you want to lift the bouquet without amplifying alcohol. It is the wrong glass for dense, tannic, high-extract reds, which are better served by the taller Bordeaux shape.

If you keep only a small set of stemware at home, a Burgundy glass and a Bordeaux glass together cover the majority of serious red wine occasions. The Burgundy glass earns its space on the shelf any time the wine in the bottle rewards careful attention to aroma.