I first discovered Kessler on a trip to Esslingen in 2010. 'Germany's oldest sparkling wine…read morecellar' would be worth visiting when one is in the area. Avail yourself of the old black and white photos hung on the wall as one enters Kessler. If this place was good enough for Errol Flynn, then it's good enough for you and me, hopefully.
The woman pouring on my first visit was engaging, humorous, and knowledgeable about both product and the history of the Keller. In short, she was all that one would hope for in such a situation. She spoke a mixture of Schwäbisch (my fave German dialect) and standard and I kept up fairly well. The hubs and I left satisfied, our bags heavily laden with a variety of stellar sparkling wines.
On our latest visit we had an experience that could qualify as just about the opposite of the first trip. -not sure why the interaction with the staff was such a mis-fire. Without going into every minute detail, just visualize me at the bar, menu in hand, asking to try product, only to be told to go visit the show room. After a short trip to the show room, I tried again to engage the staff about product, to no avail. Suffice it to say, we left neither having tried any bubbly nor purchasing any. I would add that we were the only customers. -third time will be a charm? I hope so.
