“Barbarossa” was the nickname of the German Emperor Friedrich I living from the years 1122 to 1190. The meaning is “red beard”, because he had worn a beard, which evidently had a red color. All his life he was travelling between Germany and Italy, which Northern part had been part of the German empire at this time. His life was dominated by his relation to Italy, while the center of his governing had been the Southwest of Germany, from which he was starting for the successful development of his empire. Living and travelling in between these 2 regions surely he found very good food and obviously wine. Maybe his beard has become red from red wine? Similar to Barbarossa I am born in Germany´s Southwest and was travelling nearly whole my life between this part of Germany and Northern Italy. My main history is dominated by the relation to Italy and since when grown I have worn a beard, red in my youth, white in my age. What is nearer to take this emperor as the patron saint of our cantina?

As I understood, Barbarossa loved life and its good things. I am happy to share this preferences with him and my friends.

VOLKER HOFER, Shanghai 2018-02-15

Wine, especially good wine, is not a product as all others. There is nowine identical to another; there are always differences from one wine to another, depending on the producer, on the grape, on the soil, on the region, on the position of the vineyard, on the weather, on the time of harvest. The same wine is different from one year to the other, from one meter to the other, one day to the other. Lots of influences decide the taste of a wine. To find the differences out quickly becomes a passion. A wine enthusiast wants to discover more and more, he wants to understand the nuances, wants to taste the hour of sun more,wants to understand, what the winemaker has done to underline the taste of the grape.Wine can make enthusiastic!

I am a wine enthusiast. Born in the fifties in Germany′s largest wine region, the “Pfalz”, which has a strong influence from the near France, seems that the wineenthusiasm had been laid in my cradle. My father as a profession was in charge toprovide all materials needed for the local butcher’s shops, within other productsalso the wine from the region, which had been sold by the butchers as a completion oftheir range. Often my father needed to be out at wine tastings and brought theresults not only to the shops, but also at home. So my three brothers and sisters and I have been touched already in earliest years by the item “wine”. Having reached the age of adults, it has become use for our family to choose prestigious wines from all over the world as a gift for all family feasts, such as birthdays, Christmas′s etc. The costs have been very high for students and therefore a deep research has been executed before investing the few money for an expensive wine. It was the time in which I accumulated knowledge about wines and their quality levels.