The Swiss Underberg Group is a spirits, wine and sparkling wine group with German roots. The parent company is Underberg AG, founded in 1956 in Dietlikon, Switzerland (Canton of Zurich). The company was founded in 1846 by Hubert Underberg I (1817-1891) and his wife in Rheinberg (North Rhine-Westphalia) and is still family-owned. Today, it is managed in the fourth and fifth generation by Emil Underberg, Christiane Underberg and Hubertine Underberg-Ruder. The best-known product is the world-famous herbal liqueur, which was entered in the German trademark register in 1896 and became a synonym for bitters. It is still produced today according to a secret recipe with various herbs from 43 countries with 44% vol. alcohol content. To this day, the company still advertises with the slogan "SEMPER IDEM" (constant quality and effect). Only three of Underberg's twelve children learned the valuable secret. Allegedly there were no written records, but the recipe was only passed on orally. After the death of the founder, his widow and daughter kept the secret, only two other people knew about the recipe.
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The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena