Garage Wines from the Fricktal: Ivan & Cyrill Hossli
In the Fricktal, the quiet valley of the Jura foothills in Aargau, two brothers — a tree-carer and a winemaker — make natural wines and cidres from their grandparents' heirloom high-stem orchards and their own small vines. Everything ferments spontaneously, stays unfiltered, and goes into the bottle without unnecessary interventions. The Instagram bio says it best: «Garagenweine aus dem Fricktal.»
Hossli Wein is a small family winery in the Aargau Frick — and it began with apples, not grapes. In 2013, Ivan and Cyrill Hossli started pressing cider from the old high-stem trees in their grandparents' orchards, fermenting the hand-picked juice of heirloom varieties for months in old Burgundy barrels. Ivan, an expert in the care of fruit trees, brought experience from the cider industry of Brittany; Cyrill trained as a winemaker and oenologist. In 2019 they received the Bio Suisse certification.
The cellar tells the story: a natural-stone cellar in the centre of Hornussen, near Frick, that has served since 2013 as the production site for must and other innovative drinks. To the team comes Léonie, who takes care of labelling and visual marketing — the third hand. And where the cidre left off, the wine began: the brothers now grow Sauvignon blanc, Pinot noir and Riesling-Sylvaner themselves, and Dornfelder has joined the cellar, all vinified with the same non-interventionist discipline.
The Place — The Fricktal & Its Heirloom Trees
The Fricktal is a narrow, sun-trapped valley in the Jura foothills of Aargau, sheltered between chalk ridges — orchard country before it is wine country. Here the Hossli family farms vines and high-stem trees in and around Herznach and Hornussen, and the landscape itself is part of the estate: around thirty old apple varieties on tall standard trees, picked by hand in the grandparents' orchards and by local farmers.
The Grandparents' Orchards
Apples of old varieties and Fricktal pears, picked carefully by hand from the high-stem trees that still shape the valley's landscape. The trees are not nostalgia — they are the raw material of Siider, and their preservation is part of the estate's work.
The Vines
Sauvignon blanc, Pinot noir and Riesling-Sylvaner grown by the family at Herznach, with Dornfelder in the cellar. White, red, orange and rosé — a deliberately eclectic, curiosity-driven range rather than an appellation-driven one.
The Stone Cellar
A natural-stone cellar in the centre of Hornussen, near Frick, in use since 2013 as the production site for must and other innovative drinks — and now for the garage wines themselves.
Bio Suisse 2019
The estate has carried the Bio Suisse organic label since 2019 — certification covering both the orchards and the vines, and the foundation for a cellar that adds nothing at all.
Cellar — Spontaneous, Unfiltered, Unhurried
The method is stated in one sentence on the estate's own page: «Our wines ferment spontaneously, stay unfiltered and come into the bottle without unnecessary interventions. They show character and tell of the vintage and terroir.» No selected yeasts, no corrections, no makeup — just the native ferment of Bio Suisse-certified fruit.
Patience is the other half of the discipline. Cidre ferments for months in old Burgundy barrels; the wines get long time in cask and keep developing, excitingly, in the bottle. The cellar under Hornussen keeps its own rhythm — cool stone, slow air, no hurry.
The third hand completes the picture. Léonie designs the labels and the visual identity — the look of Hossli Wein is as deliberate as the winemaking, turning every bottle into a small piece of Fricktal graphic design.
The Wines — Cidre, Whites, Reds & Pét-Nats
A deliberately eclectic range: natural cidre from heirloom apples, whites from Riesling-Sylvaner and Sauvignon blanc, reds from Pinot noir and Dornfelder, orange and rosé, and sparkling pét-nats. Small volumes, quick sellouts, and a following in the natural-wine bars of Switzerland's cities.
Siider
The original — natural cidre of thirty heirloom varietiesHand-picked apples and Fricktal pears from the grandparents' high-stem trees, spontaneously fermented for months in old Burgundy barrels. The founding bottle of the estate since 2013 — pure orchard, no additions.
Riesling-Sylvaner & Sauvignon Blanc
The whites — and the orange editionSpontaneous, unfiltered whites from the family's vines at Herznach — plus a skin-contact Riesling-Sylvaner for the orange-wine shelf. Vinified with nothing added: the Fricktal's answer to Jura's great blends.
Pinot Noir & Dornfelder
The reds and the roséPinot noir and Dornfelder, fermented spontaneously and bottled unfiltered — alone, or pressed into a juicy rosé. Light, honest reds made for the table rather than the trophy cabinet.
Pét-Nats
The sparkling side — bottles that keep fermentingPétillant naturel from Sauvignon blanc, Riesling-Sylvaner and Dornfelder — spontaneously fermented, lively, and made to disappear fast at aperitif hour.
Legacy — From a Grandparents' Orchard to the Natural-Wine Shelves
The Hossli legacy starts in the trees. Ivan learned fruit trees as a tree-carer, spending years in the orchards and in the cider industry of Brittany; Cyrill trained as winemaker and oenologist. In 2013 the two crafts met in a natural-stone cellar in Hornussen, and Siider was born from the apples their grandparents had planted decades before.
The second legacy is what the estate keeps alive by working. Around thirty old apple varieties on high-stem trees still stand because they are picked by hand and pressed into cider — the orchard's economics secured by the bottle. And when the family added vines — Sauvignon blanc, Pinot noir, Riesling-Sylvaner — they were farmed Bio Suisse-certified from the start, so that the cellar could stay as empty of inputs as the orchard is of chemistry.
And the legacy travels. Hossli Wein has found its audience far beyond the Fricktal — in Bern's natural-wine shops and bars, in Zürich's specialists, and with importers abroad — proof that a garage, a stone cellar and a grandparents' orchard can carry a name across Switzerland. «Garagenweine aus dem Fricktal» turned out to be a destination, not a limitation.