The Wild Alps
In 2016, Theresia Angel-Hämmerle and Peter Angel from Vorarlberg founded “The Wild Alps”, based in Balgach, Switzerland, to develop and produce an exceptional portfolio of fine spirits. Their vision was to capture the quintessence of gin, whisky, rum and vodka to really excite aficionados.
The two founders brought with them over 20 years' experience from the spirits industry, where they had worked as developers and producers. The philosophy of the “Angels” is quite simple: they produce what they like. Combining alchemy and adventure in their craftsmanship as distillers, they are open to experimenting with exceptional and unusual ingredients that are full of character.
They drew their main inspiration from the Alps, more precisely from the Villa Maund in Vorarlberg in Austria. This Alpine villa was built according to the plans of William Morris in the late 19th century and served as a hunting lodge for the passionate alpinist Sir John Oakley Maund. The interior design includes some expressive fabric patterns and a tapestry called “The Strawberry Thief”, which were produced in William Morris’ workshops in 19th century England. Theresia Angel-Hämmerle incorporated these patterns and fabrics into her product design and created velvet labels for some of her products. This won her the “Packaging Design” award from the IWSC in London. The Alpine flora in the region also provides the two founders with inspiration for their wild Alpine creations. In the meantime, they are now able to look back on numerous national and international accolades, repeatedly awarded "Best Gin" and "Best Rum (of Switzerland).
Spirits from The Wild Alps
Gift Collections from The Wild Alps
from The Wild Alps
Producer
Domaine de Ferrand
Philippe Bravay represents the fourth generation of the family that owns Domaine de Ferrand. The winery can be traced back to the 17th century. Philippe’s parents sold the grapes to wine merchants. But he decided to press and bottle his own wine.
Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
In 2015 the two families of Zapiain and Lopez de Lacalle launched the Izar-Leku Mahastiak project (today Grupo Artadi) in Zarautz/Basque Country, with the aim of producing a table wine as well as a sparkling wine with Txakoli as the base wine. Today this sparkling wine is part of the "Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden" company - just like the premium single-vineyard wine "Viña El Pisón", though this wine comes from the Álava/Rioja region.
Roland und Karin Lenz
In 1994, while Roland Lenz was still studying oenology, he and his wife Karin were able to acquire eight hectares of vines on the Iselisberg. It was a unique opportunity that they seized, even though they were toying with the idea of setting up their own business abroad, far from Switzerland. They actually did so later, but that's another story…