Now Open: Give Your Wine the Five-Star Glassware Treatment, as RIEDEL Opens Its Debut Australian Flagship
Filled with varietal-specific stemware and showstopping decanters, this North Sydney flagship is just the third of its kind around the globe.
Whether you know wine — or want to look like you do — your stemware needs to be as high-quality as the vintage you're drinking. In many cases, the go-to choice is RIEDEL, the 11-generation-old glassmaker best known for pioneering grape varietal-specific glassware. Now, for the first time in 270 years, you can browse the range at RIEDEL's flagship Australian store in North Sydney. What's more, it's one of only three flagships worldwide.
Operated by local subsidiary RSN Australia, the RIEDEL Boutique gives consumers access to the brand's full Australian catalogue. The location will also feature two more brands in the RSN portfolio, including the engineered wine and beer glass designs of Spiegelau — a German brand dating back over 500 years — alongside the fine Bavarian crystal of Nachtmann, another hugely historic manufacturer.
Yet this new store isn't special just because visitors can browse a myriad of rare and expensive glassware. Instead, it brings an experiential design, with in-house experts on hand to guide all-comers through everything from how to decant wine to the art of tablescaping, aka the proper way to arrange a dinner table. As Mark Baulderstone, Managing Director of RSN Australia, puts it: "The RIEDEL Boutique is so much more than just a store."
That becomes clear from the moment visitors walk in the door, where nearly 100 handcrafted glasses flank the entrance. Then, curving along the walls inside, there are 150 machine-made glasses for every varietal, style, and design, plus more than 60 high-end decanters. For a true wine lover, it's enough to make your head spin. Yet the in-store encounter goes far beyond mere products for purchase, with a dedicated events space on the level one mezzanine.
Here, The Crystal Room hosts up to 50 standing or 30 seated guests. Conceived as a blank canvas for all kinds of upscale experiences, the room is defined by a standout chandelier made from 182 crystal glasses. At the same time, the room's shape mirrors the design of RIEDEL's signature Amadeo decanter. As you can imagine, this is the kind of place glassware lovers could easily lose themselves in.
With wine masterclasses and tasting programs on the agenda, The Crystal Room is also available for private dinners, seasonal product launches and partner activations. Meanwhile, RIEDEL will also regularly host friends of the brand, including leading winemakers, chefs, florists and artists, with guests invited to attend workshops that explore the relationship between top-notch glassware and the art of entertaining.
RIEDEL Boutique is now open at 1 West Street, North Sydney. Head to the website for more information.
Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.
Images: Supplied.
