This
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.
After
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
In
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.
