Gantenbein is a 6.27 hectares large domaine located in the Graubünden, also known as the Grisons region of the upper Rhine valley in eastern Switzerland, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth. 

Martha Gantenbein and Daniel Gantenbein's wines are considered to be the finest and most vibrant ones produced in modern Switzerland. They can be also characterised as powerful, concentrated wines where length is combined with immense complexity, elegance and finesse. 2012 is a more classic vintage, and it also is impressive in its leaner character and vibrantly mineral tension.

The top wines of the domaine are: Pinot Noir TBA, Riesling-Sylvaner, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Pinot Noir TBA 2000 scored 96, the Riesling-Sylvaner 1995 scored 96, Pinot Noir 2019 scored 95, as well as the Chardonnay 2015 scored 95 by the Wine Advocate.

Robert Parker's tasting notes on the Pinot Noir TBA 2000: "Picked at about 212° Oechsle, the botrytized 2000 Pinot Noir Trockenbeerenauslese has a radiant amber/orange color with perfectly ripe, pure and concentrated apricot and peach aromas. On the palate, this is a concentrated, fresh, piquant and salty TBA with exciting length and vitality. This fabulous Pinot has very fine tannins and amazing vitality. This is a great sweet wine that demonstrates the aptitude of Pinot Noir for noble sweet wine. Tasted November 2018."

Robert Parker's tasting notes on the Pinot Noir 2019: "Entirely sourced in Fläsch, Martha and Daniel Gantenbein's 2019 Pinot Noir offers a fascinating deep, pure, fresh, intense and spicy nose of dark berries and cherries, toast, cloves and crushed stones. This is already an utterly seamlessly textured wine on the nose, which is in fact mirrored on the palate. Full-bodied, supple and in perfect balance, this is a beautifully dense, lush and sweet Pinot of great intensity, finesse and elegance. The tannins are ripe and fresh and perfectly interwoven with the delicate, almost smooth acidity. This is an irresistible, nevertheless seriously structured and sustainable Pinot Noir that deserves its iconic status and high price (I bought it in Germany for 163 euros). Bottled under natural cork with 13% stated alcohol. Tasted in March 2022."

Robert Parker's tasting notes on the Chardonnay: "The 2015 Chardonnay is deep, fresh and pure on the nose, displaying bright fruits intertwined with a great mineral expression, honey and biscuit aromas. Fascinating! Silky, round and lush on the palate, this is a generous, highly elegant and concentrated Chardonnay with very fine tannins and a lingering, really salty and piquant mineral finish. It's still a baby but is already showing all its great talents. This is one of the finest Chardonnays I have ever tasted from Martha and Daniel Gantenbein. It has great balance, finesse and complexity as well as the most elegant expression of power and persistency. Tasted November 2018."

Gantenbein was founded in 1982 by Martha Gantenbein and Daniel Gantenbein, who are still in charge of the winemaking. Gantenbein is considered to be one of the best wine estates in Switzerland. 

Martha Gantenbein's parents owned a winery, and when she married Daniel Gantenbein, she took over the domaine. In 1981 they started their family wine trade, learning on the go. 

They started traveling to Burgundy and Mosel to gain some experience which later resulted in the high-quality wines worth putting their name on. 

Since 1993, Martha Gantenbein and Daniel Gantenbein have used oak barriques, 225-litre barrels. The wood for these barrels is air-dried for three years.

1995 they started producing unfiltered wine. 

In 2008 the wine estate was enlarged, and a new cellar designed by architects Valentin Bearth, Andrea Deplazes and Daniel Ladner was built. The brick façade, made of unique tiles, has been designed to optimize the temperature. It was created by Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler at the Technical University in Zurich and implemented by a robot at the brickworks of Christian Keller. The brick tiles are angled to filter and refract the right amount of light throughout the day. Much attention is paid to maximize the use of the room but minimize labour, ensuring the gentlest possible handling through various stages. The flow of the must and wine is carried out just using gravity, meaning that neither pumps nor filters are needed.

The Gantenbein vineyards have three wine varieties: 12.5 acres of Pinot Noir, 2.5 acres of Chardonnay and 0.5 acres of Riesling.

The vineyards are farmed with much respect to nature with many handworks. Martha Gantenbein and Daniel Gantenbein understand the importance of precise work to get the best wines in the vineyard. 

The harvesting is done manually using small crates. The fruits are destemmed but not entirely crushed since the Gantenbeins prefer leaving 20 percent in whole bunches. Then the grapes are transferred into the open-top wooden vats. 

The pre-fermentation lasts for up to 14 days at the temperature of 4℃, before being raised again to 13℃. The temperature at the end of the fermentation process, which lasts for a week, is around 32℃. Throughout this period, a few punch-downs are done every day.  Then the wine is pressed and racked into oak barrels, where it ages from 14 to 15 months. Malolactic fermentation is not done before spring. Before bottling the wine from all the barrels are blended in the large steel vat. The wine is bottled unfiltered.