Aargau rarity: this is what lies behind guild wine from Baden

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The Guild of St Cordula is an institution located in the city of Baden. It was founded in 1967 based on a 1465 “letter” of the Fellowship of Saint Cordula. Today the association has around 40 members aged between 25 and 92 who meet at least once a month.

The program includes events such as the annual Samichlaus at the regional nursing home, various guild excursions or the so-called Notesessen. Here, guild members only order themselves one cervelat, but pay the amount of the entire menu, which then goes to a charity.

Birth of Baden guild wine

Above the city of Baden lies the vineyard near the old Stein Castle, of which only a ruin remains. For a long time this piece of land was only a small part of a vast vineyard that stretched in and around Baden. The vineyard later turned into a fallow field before the land was made suitable for allotment gardens. However, after a while, the allotment project was stopped, as the steep slope was quite unsuitable for gardening.

At the end of the 20th century, the city of Baden, as a landowner, commissioned a concept for the use of the Schloss-Stein area, in which viticulture would be brought back into public consciousness. At the same time, members of the Saint Cordula guild were looking for a place where they could grow grapes and make their own guild wine. In the winter of 2000/2001 it was time to sign a lease agreement, especially with the city of Baden, and start clearing the land.

The rebuilding of the vineyard took place under strict ecological regulations and had to be accomplished in two stages. In addition, 20 percent of the usable area should be allocated as an ecological compensation area. At the beginning of 2001 the lower half of the vineyard was planted and four years later the first Badener Zunftwein Cuvée Rosenreben was bottled. The upper half of the vineyard was planted in 2006 and since the 2010 harvest it consists of a blend of Sankt Cordula Zunftwein, Merlot, Cabernet Dorsa and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties.

A profitable rental and a lot of work

Guild members deliver their vineyard leases to the city of Baden in an annual ceremony. But this is paid not in money, but in wine and is 20 bottles of 0.75 liters each. Although the rent seems relatively low and the lease is for an indefinite period, the deal is also valuable for the city of Baden. Since the beginning of the business, the members of Sankt Cordula Zunft have not only worked hard, but also invested a significant amount in the restoration of the vineyard.

Under the expert management of Jürg Wetzel (62) and his son Dominique (30), the guild members must work in the vineyard all year. This includes vine removal in March, various work in the area, the cycle in May and June, defoliation in July, installation of protective nets in August and, as the grand finale, the autumn grape harvest. Members are also present during the bottling of the wine, where the exact composition of the three grape varieties in the finished wine is determined.

Depending on the harvest, 1200 to 1600 0.75 liter bottles are filled each year, as well as up to 60 magnum and 20 double magnum bottles. The wine, aged in Aargau oak barrels for one year, is bottled and distributed among the guild members.

But just over half of the wine is sold, for example, at the Müller butcher shop in Baden or at the Jürg Wetzel wine shop in Ennetbaden AG. Anyone visiting this year’s Badenfahrt from August 18 to 27 can taste the rare guild wine at the festive bar of the guild Sankt Cordula directly on the Theaterplatz.

This is how the cuvée rose vine tastes

Together with members of the Sankt Cordula guild and guests from a friendly Zurich guild, we taste several varieties of the guild’s rare wines. Aged for more than eight years in the bottle, the 2013 vintage has beautiful ripe notes of dried fruit, earth and tobacco, while younger specimens leave an impression of fresh, polished, fruity and elegant. The result of hard work is definitely something to be proud of.

Source : Blick