Estate and History
The Schlossgut Bachtobel estate has been family-owned since 1784 and comprises a unique and precious blend of historic buildings, forest, vineyard and meadows. Vines have been grown here for eight generations, and it is thanks to the family’s constant striving for the highest possible quality that Bachtobel wines have achieved the leading position that they enjoy today. We cultivate our vines according to the Bio Suisse guidelines.
Estate
The former seat of the Barons of Oberboltshausen is situated on a hillside between the Thur river and the Ottenberg. The estate today still comprises, as it did when it was first acquired, the buildings that were listed in the deeds of 1784: “1 manor house with cellar, barn, stables, wash-house and a good well, 1 shed, 2 buildings for cellars and stables, 1 wine press”.
Over the last 30 years, a modern wine-cellar and a garage have also been added to the estate.
The manor house and auxiliary and farm buildings have been well maintained over many years and today the group of buildings at Bachtobel is quite unique in the canton of Thurgau, distinguished by its remarkable authenticity, and mostly protected by a preservation order. Up the slopes of the Ottenberg stretch just six hectares of vineyard, and above that 13 hectares of woodland, producing wood chips to heat the buildings on the estate.
History
On the Bachtobel estate, as elsewhere in the canton of Thurgau, it is not unusual to find Roman remains. In the Middle Ages, the castle of the Barons of Oberboltshausen was probably located where the manor house stands today. The two old wine presses dating from 1584 and 1729 bear witness to the age-old tradition of wine-growing. In 1784, Johann Ulrich Kesselring bought the Oberboltshausen or Bachtobel baronial estate from the noble Ebinger family.
While the lords of the manor were mainly involved with lawmaking, politics and finance, the tenant farmers and their labourers and vineyard workers concentrated on agriculture and wine-growing. Then, at the start of the 20th century, Hans Kesselring decided to make it his life’s work to turn Bachtobel into an estate par excellence, producing wine that would be the finest in eastern Switzerland. Thanks to his advanced management methods and the use of the latest technology – such as the first cable winch to be used in wine-growing in 1928 – the foundations were laid for the quality wines we know today.
In the recent past, the estate and its wines have been particularly shaped by the personality and work of Hans Ulrich Kesselring (1946 – 2008). He was a thoughtful man, cultivated and sensitive, but with inexorable, razor-sharp powers of analysis. His manner was modest, yet he was intent on ensuring that it was not only among wine connoisseurs that his outstanding knowledge and achievements were noticed and appreciated.
As the successor to Hans Ulrich Kesselring, his nephew Johannes Meier is now continuing the business at Schlossgut Bachtobel for the eighth generation. He is supported by his long-standing team consisting of the oenologist, Ines Rebentrost, and the two vintners, Philipp Gfeller and Fazli Llolluni. According to Vinum and Gault & Millau, Schlossgut Bachtobel is among the top 100 Swiss wineries and is a member of the renowned wine association, Mémoire des Vins Suisses.