U.S.: Cheers. French: Santé; German: Prost

Swiss winemakers produce approximately 26 million barrels annually but export less than 2 percent. Until now, it couldn’t be bought in St. Louis.

by Christy Marshall / Photography by Carmen Troesser

Virginia (known by all as Ginny) Busch started traveling to Lucerne, Switzerland when she was a child. Her grandfather, August Busch Jr., had met his third wife, Trudy Buholzer, there while dining at the Buholzer’s family restaurant, The Old Swiss House. Ginny’s father, August Busch III, then CEO of Anheuser-Busch, had become fast friends with Trudy’s brother and proprietor of the restaurant, Willie.

“We would go to Switzerland every summer,” Ginny says. “We'd go to Europe, and we'd base out of Zurich for about four or five days while my father would fly to London, Italy, and Ireland to conduct business. But then he would take about four or five days and we’d vacation in Lucerne. That's how we grew up, going to Switzerland and having a lovely time. It became one of my favorite places.”

Dr. Chris Kostman with then fiancee Ginny Busch.

So, in 2007 when she and her fiancé, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Chris Kostman, were deciding where to wed, she suggested Switzerland. He had never been there.

“He fell in love with it,” Ginny says, adding “We've kept the tradition up by taking our kids there, seeing the cousins, and going to the Old Swiss House.”

Chris and Ginny touring vineyards in Switzerland.

A graduate of Washington University and a longtime conservationist, Ginny went to work first for Busch Entertainment’s SeaWorld and Busch Gardens adventure parks as Director of Corporate Conservation Programs. After she had been there for a decade and after InBev bought A-B, she left and in 2010, took over as Executive Director of the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka.

“I loved working there,” she says. “We went from a staff of nine to a staff of 25 and grew the organization to the point that we were more solid financially. We had a great team and tried to instill a positive passion for wolves.”

Throughout, she was still trekking to the Alps and imbibing in the wine. “A couple of years ago, I thought ‘How do I personally get this?’ I started googling Swiss wine and I couldn't find it anywhere. And if I did, it was really difficult to get.”

The problem is although the Swiss produce wine, they also drink pretty much all of it.

“[The winemakers] don't have a problem selling most, or all, of their wine in Switzerland so many never consider exportation,” Ginny says. “But the winemakers are passionate about their trade and many want to start showcasing it to different parts of the world.”

Busch started contacting and visiting winemakers with biodynamic and sustainably grown vineyards who were interested in exporting. She also created BK Varietals, an importation company, to help them through the maze of paperwork, permits, the logistics, and legalities.

“That was kind of the genesis about bringing this wine to the U.S. because it's just so fun to introduce these lovely products that are of such quality,” Ginny says. “It’s a great product that is rarely exported, but it also speaks to me in the sustainability and environmental way that I wanted. When you can find a winemaker or a farmer who is producing their product in a way that is not only sustainable but healthy for you, that refuels the soil, and isn't creating a huge footprint, all that just makes sense to me.”

But to succeed, the company must have some volume and some of the winemakers “only produce 25,000 bottles total a year,” Ginny says. “They're not huge wine producers. And so it was, ‘Okay, what do we do?’”

The answer was to found Prost a members-only club. By joining, a member then has access to purchase the featured Swiss wines. Memberships start at $500 and run to $1,250 annually. The level dictates how many bottles of wine each member can buy. Specifically: at $500, it’s 12 bottles; $750: 18 bottles; $1,000: 24 bottles, and $1,250: 30 bottles. Also included in the tab are tastings and events and limited super-premium wines at the top two membership levels. The number of members is currently topped off at 100.

A sampling of the wines offered through Proust.

“The membership is a way to not just create a community, but to regulate the number of bottles that a member can buy so that the wine is accessible to many,” Ginny says. “There are wine enthusiasts out there who come and taste and say, ‘I want four cases of this.’ Well, I may only have four cases total. So [the membership] is a way to say, ‘Okay, no.’ We're going to sort of equalize how people get their wine so every member can experience Swiss wine.” The wine prices start at $35 a bottle and run up to $150; the average is $65 a bottle.

Busch explains that the Swiss wine is generally more expensive than its French and Italian counterparts “because they don't produce a lot of it. How they cultivate it and pick the grapes is all manual because it's on these steep slopes and they can't use machinery. All that cost adds up. That's part of the reason for having the membership is that you get access to wine that you simply cannot buy anywhere else. And, if you could possibly get it, you will pay a ton in shipping to get it here.”

One of the most appealing aspects of Swiss wine is its lightness and its lack of aftereffects.

“Everybody has loved the wine,” Ginny says exuberantly. “It wasn't just in my head and it wasn't just me. Because part of the whole reason that I love Swiss wine is that it doesn't give me a headache.”

Ginny Busch at the vineyards in Switzerland.

Ginny Busch, at home with her Swiss wines and Stout, her rescue Mastiff.

If you were going to pick anyone to taste test your wines, Ginny Busch would be the ideal candidate. As is the Busch family tradition, she was given a few drops of beer upon her birth. When she was growing up, her father would sample beers nightly at their farm and when she and her brother were of age, they joined in.

“Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, I inherited that tasting ability from my father,” she says. “And, we often get ‘head feel.’” She explains that after one simple sip, you can get a headache. “It's a very quick reaction to whatever's in the product. It could be the water. There are certain bottled waters where I get it. There's wine, beer, some food additives. That trait was valuable for Anheuser-Busch because [August Busch III] got it as well. He would take one sip and go, ‘Nope, there’s “head feel” in this beer. Let’s find out why and eliminate it.’”

There is another reason Ginny Busch markets Swiss wines. She’s hoping aficionados decide to personally visit the winemakers in Switzerland.

“The thing that I'm passionate about is storytelling and really telling the story of each of those winemakers, of how the wine is made, and how it can fit into your everyday life,” she says. “I really hope it inspires people to go visit them.”