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Whenever we were allowed to go into the village, we passed the "Drei Könige", the time-honoured inn in the small main town of the canton, where our school - a boarding school - used to be. Both no longer exist: neither the boarding school, which has become a state school, nor the "Three Kings", where the gastronomy has long since been abandoned. Unprofitable. Only the bus stop, directly in front of the house, has kept its name: "Drei Könige". Now people meet in the "Engel", the pub diagonally opposite, for an early or late drink or even in between. The "Three Kings" have lost their appeal - not only here. "Angels" may still attract and entice, but "Three Kings" are hopelessly outdated, dusty and have run their course. Aura", "Blue Monkey", "Bohemia", "Cheyenne", "Coco Grill", "Clouds" etc. are more likely to attract customers. Yet it was "The Three Kings" who - among other things - brought me to wine. Whether they were ever holy, I don't know, but for me at least they were something special.

Old inn sign: "Drei Könige" in Wangen im Allgäu. Here, too, the sign has outlived the inn. (Photo: P. Züllig)

The landlord couple of the "Drei König" had three daughters, one more beautiful than the other, I only remember that one was called Pia. It was difficult for us to pass the restaurant without at least taking a look into the innkeeper's parlour. There were men sitting at the Jass table (a card game), drinking beer and being loud. Every now and then we would venture into a darker corner, which was the right place for us. To see and not to be seen. But our teachers often sat there too, I don't know what drew them here, the glass of wine they were sipping, or the beautiful daughters who often wandered around the inn. For me, at any rate - as I remember - it was both the "Tschumpeli" (Roman) wine and the daughters, especially the one, Pia. Later, when we sang the "Salve Regina" on feast days, I could roar with all my heart (you could say):
"O clemens, o pia" (Clemens is my middle name; translated from Latin, the line means: "O kind, O mild") - and hope that she would hear. Maybe it was the wine that drove me to these pubescent games back then. In any case, it was the first wine I drank alone in a restaurant. Why wine? It was acid and anything but good, but it was wine - probably from Algeria - that I could use to set myself apart from the beer-swilling frat boys (my "uniformed" colleagues) who sought their fortune in the beer ritual, and publicly demonstrate with a glass of wine that I was now an adult (I was in the upper classes, so about 18, 19 years young). That was when my relationship (no, not with Pia) began with wine (instead of beer). And wine has remained faithful to me to this day, I have long forgotten Pia and her sisters.

"Drei Könige" a historic building in Schwyz. It has since been renovated and converted for flats. (Photo: P. Züllig)

Since then, "Three Kings" have had a special significance for me in connection with wine. When I recently read in an advertisement: "Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar are said to have seen a bright star in the sky. Because it shone much brighter than all the others, they followed it all the way to Bethlehem. The three kings of the wine world are called Suckling, Parker and Falstaff. With their wine reviews and publications, they show us the way to the best and most valuable wines in the world" - all that came back to my mind: the rather sour "Algerian" and the three beautiful daughters. I admit that I still prefer the daughters to the new three kings of the wine world.

kings of the wine world, based on my experience that many a bright shining star (of the wine world) turned out to be a will-o'-the-wisp.
But wherever three kings appear, that's where I've stopped since then - in all these many years. For example, at the "Dreikönigshof" winery in Bingen, right on the Rhine. My German wine friends wondered why I wanted to visit this winery on our Rheinhessen tour and not Keller, Gunderloch or Wittmann (and all the others). We went there later, but first came the "Dreikönigshof". I kept my "Epiphany secret" to myself at the time.

On the road in the vineyards and on wineries in Rheinhessen. (Photo: P. Züllig)

So everyone - even the choosiest wine drinker - has his or her quiet preferences, his or her secret wishes, his or her stored memories. And these may or may not coincide with the quality. Wine is also myth. The lesser known, the more everyday, the individually special definitely has its place there, even if the wine Caspars, Melchiors and Balthasars cannot recognise the brighter shining star.

Epiphany wine from the "Buurehöfli" winery in Kleinandelfingen% Switzerland. (Photo: P. Züllig)

Also in Switzerland - as probably still in many places - there are such things as Epiphany wines. The one I discovered at the "Buurehöfli" (Little Farm) winery is actually called "Three Kings", a cuvée of the Chancellor, Monarch and Cabernet Cortis grape varieties. These names are almost as exotic as the names of the three kings who once made a pilgrimage to the stable in Bethlehem. The three vine variety kings (whether they are already kings, still princes or even frogs that still need to be kissed, remains to be seen) indicate that the "Buurehöfli" must be an organic farm, because the winery's "three kings" are interspecific new varieties, fungus-resistant and are mainly used in organic viticulture.

Without my Epiphany experience in my youth, I would never have got to know these grape varieties and many a winery, and my wine experience would not be smaller today, but it would be a bit poorer.

"Epiphany is also connected with medieval customs. In those days, people could still relate to kings, they were a concept, a power, figures of fate. That is why it was customary to bake a cake with a bean on Epiphany Eve. The cake was meant to be a cult food. "It was cut into so many pieces that after it was distributed, three portions were left for the "bean king" and they must be given away by the king as alms," says the chronicle. Remnants of this custom - the Epiphany cake - have survived the centuries to the present day.

Caspar% Melchior and Balthasar - every year they return to earth in custom on 6 January. (Photo: P. Züllig)

Particularly popular - among adults, not children - is the belief in the miracle of the wine on Epiphany night. Again the chronicle: "From Christmas to Epiphany is holy time. A series of miracles take place there. Because the Church also celebrates the miracle of Cana on 6 January, the popular belief has formed that on Epiphany night at twelve o'clock all water turns to wine."

For the wine lover, a beautiful but also terrible idea. The sour "Algerian" from The Three Kings comes to mind. Not every supposed king is a benefactor. Medieval customs or not. Anyone who doubts this can be convinced at midnight tonight.

Sincerely
Yours sincerely

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