A day trip to the Kloster Fahr

1st May 2009

The Chapel of St Anne at the Kloster FahrThis afternoon we visited the Kloster Fahr, near Zürich, for a spot of lunch and some wine tasting. The working Convent is one of 127 wine producers in Eastern Switzerland which opened their cellars to the general public this weekend.

I've not been the Kloster Fahr before and was a little curious to find out what's there. As a working monastry, most of the buildings are in working use and, although guided tours are available if you book in advance, most of the buildings aren't actually open if you just turn up. Parts of the grounds are open and, aside from the main restaurant, there's a lovely area for picnicing.

We took a rather late lunch on the terrace of the Restaurant "Zu den Zwei Raben" (Restaurant of the Two Ravens) whereupon I indulged in a schnitzel with a sizeable portion of chips. Of course, some of the monastrys own wine was on offer so I took a glass of the Pinot Noir Barrique - which was a fine concoction with flavours of blackberries and a quite delighful red, rubyish colour.

Old building and vegetable patch at the Kloster FahrAfter lunch we had a little rummage around the grounds. We soon discovered there's also a small tree-covered area which is ideal for picnicing and, on a day like today with sun shining, it would be an excellent place to take a picnic. We discovered the Chapel of St Anne which, although a place of worship, was open to visitors. It's simple interior is decorated with pictures and a ribbon telling the story of the founding of the monastery. Some of the original decoration is still visible in the vaulted apse. An old building stands in the vegetable patch and some of the old decorations are visible on the main cloister building. The working Benedictine monastry is also home to a working school (which we didn't rummage round on account of having finished

Barrels of Pinot Noir in the cellars of Kloster FahrIn the Cloister cellars, amongst the barrels and vaulting, a selection of red and white wines were available for us to taste. Amongst the reds, a pair of Pinot Noirs - one oaked the other a Barrique - a Dornfelder, Regent, a Cuvée d'Or and a Rosé. From the whites, a sample of Riesling x Sylvaner, Federweiss and Pinot Gris were on offer. A dessert wine from Rielsing x Sylvaner was also offered. Unfortunately, the Pinot Noir wasn't to our taste (unlike the Kloster Pinot Noir Barrique we had for lunch which was very much to my taste) The Pinot Gris was very enjoyable indeed with an almost peachy flavour - but there was something funny about the finish. Which meantg we headed out with two bottles of the Riesling X Sylvaner which was very enjoyable - light stone fruits and a fine finish. Quite delicious and an excellent purchase.

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