Bacchante 2006

If one has to name the 20 best wine makers of Switzerland, vintager Hans Ulrich Kesselring were among them. Yesterday, The Rover Company organised a visit to his marvelous Schlossgut Bachtobel at the hillside of the Ottenberg.

Kesselring is a unique character. He reads and travels a lot to see the developments of wine making in the world. But in the end, he tests the techniques by himself to decide, whether they help to bring out the true character of his wines. Kesselring even develops his own analytical methods.

Thanks to Toño's connections, we were accompanied by Barbara Meier-Dittus. She is an acknowledged expert in wine making and journalist for wine magazine Vinum. Barbara helped us to understand Kesselring's universe and did not let a single question unanswered. It's her unique ability to avoid the typical lingo and to explain all aspects of wine in a simple yet vivid language.


I can't imagine a better way to have spent last Saturday. [More pictures]

By the way, the family of Hans Ulrich Kesselring lived in the house were I was conceived and born until 1847. A year later, my grand-grandfather bought the place.