Gantenbein and the Secrets of Switzerland’s Cult Wine

By

Valerie Kathawala

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Volume 01, Identity & Intersection •
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A broad, flat vineyard recedes toward a spectacular Alpine mountain scape and cloud-blown blue sky.
Photo credit: Weingut Gantenbein

For most of us, it would be easier to climb the Matterhorn in flip-flops than to lay hands on a bottle of wine made by Daniel and Martha Gantenbein. The couple painstakingly grow and make minute quantities of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling on 6 hectares of high Alpine valley in German-speaking Switzerland. Before the wines have even been bottled, each and every one is already sold to long-time customers. How has this modest couple, working in unheralded terrain, become the emblem of Swiss wines par excellence?  After nearly 40 vintages, Daniel and Martha have fine-tuned every element within their control — from…

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Writer, Editor, Publisher

Valerie Kathawala specializes in the wines of Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, and Switzerland, as well as those closer to her home in New York City. Her work appears in the pages of Noble Rot, Full Pour, SevenFifty Daily, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Pipette, Glug, Pellicle, and a number of other tolerant publications.

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