Mathias Bechtel

The Path

Mathias Bechtel trained at Changins, where the foundations of his craft were laid with discipline and precision. From the beginning, his path suggests a winemaker attentive not only to technique, but also to the subtler demands of taste, texture, and balance. That formal training remains present in the quiet exactness of his work, supporting a style that is both considered and deeply connected to the vineyards he tends.

The Work Today

Since 2008, he has served as the winemaker at Bechtel-Weine, shaping wines that he describes with characteristic directness: "Since 2008, I have been pressing high-quality wines that embody my wine culture." The sentence carries the clarity of someone who knows exactly what he is after. Equally central is the way he approaches the vines themselves, where care is expressed through patience and manual effort rather than force. As he puts it, "We respect nature and ensure with a lot of manual work that we handle the vineyard and our grapes gently in order to preserve the natural taste." In that philosophy, the vineyard is not simply a source of fruit, but a living landscape whose expression must be protected, coaxed, and allowed to speak.

Signature

Mathias's signature wines include RÄUSCHLING, Chardonnay 2016, Saignée 2016, Bechtus Pinot Noir 2016, and Pinot Noir 2015. Taken together, they sketch a range that feels anchored in the specifics of the site while leaving room for nuance and personality. The names themselves suggest both variety and focus, each bottling part of a broader effort to translate the character of Eglisau into form, structure, and flavor.

In Their Words “With my wines I want to make the uniqueness of the Eglisau vineyards tangible on the palate and give them the renown that this impressive site on the Rhine deserves.” “We respect nature and ensure with a lot of manual work that we handle the vineyard and our grapes gently in order to preserve the natural taste.”

Acclaim

The recognition he seeks is site-specific, not abstract. Again and again, his language returns to the same goal: "With my wines, I would like to give the Grand Cru Eglisau the reputation that this impressive top site on the Rhine deserves." It is less a declaration of personal flourish than a statement of purpose, one that places the vineyard, the river, and the wines in a single frame. In that sense, the acclaim he is pursuing is the place itself: if the wines succeed, they will do so by making Eglisau legible, memorable, and, above all, tangible.