2017 Chasselas, L’Énigme, Domaine des Faverges (St-Saphorin, Vaud) One of my favorite pastimes when researching a wine region is digging into the side stories — the whys and hows. For example, after tasting this wine and knowing nothing of the winery’s history, I wondered how the canton of Fribourg came to own property in the […]
Category: Wine
Profile: Domaine Dugerdil, Dardagny, Geneva
From the top of the slope in Dardagny (see header photo) there is so much to see. There are the undulating vineyards, of course, and the sleeping-cat form of Mont Salève in the distance. Close by is a mystical place of geological importance — the end of the Jura and the beginning of the Alps. […]
Book Review: Wines of the French Alps, Wink Lorch (2019)
Wines of the French Alps: Savoie, Bugey and Beyond by Wink Lorch, Wine Travel Media (2019) Wink Lorch’s new book, Wines of the French Alps, is a slap in the face for those who bitch about the current state of wine writing or seek to trivialize wine expertise. This is a full-blown, old-school reference work with all the details a […]
Book Review: Roche et Vin: A la Découverte des Vignobles Suisses — Edited by Rainer Kündig (2018)
Roche et Vin — A la Découverte des Vignobles Suisses edited by Rainer Kündig AS Verlag & Grafik (2018) When I moved to Switzerland from California, four years ago, I had some hard choices to make. Among them, what to do with my library of wine books. Forty years of collecting left me with hundreds […]
Swiss Grapes: Grosse Arvine — One Man’s Mission
If you’ve ever entertained thoughts of resuscitating a barely breathing grape variety you may want to give Olivier Pittet a call. He’s a fine young man and a terrific winemaker who, in his spare time, lays it all on the line for a little known cultivar that may never be commercially viable. He will no […]
Les Trésors du Vin Suisse — Basel 2019
The Trésors tasting and its sister — the more inclusive Mémoire & Friends tasting — are my favorite events on the Swiss wine calendar. Both events reside under the Mémoire des Vins Suisses (MDVS) umbrella — a marketing-related non-profit founded and nurtured by a group of wine-loving journalists, producers and enthusiasts. Both tasting events, and the parties […]
Water Into Wine: A Case Study
Water into wine — Jesus got it right, from one comes the other. But the real miracle at that wine-deficient wedding in Galilee was his judicious use of a scarce natural resource: one measure of water for one measure of wine. An enviable ratio in anyone’s book and one that today’s water-conscious winemakers would do well to […]
Jungewinzer Im Rampenlicht — Young Swiss Winemakers in the Spotlight
Junge Schweiz Neue Winzer is a professional association of young (and new) Swiss winemakers dedicated to the free exchange of ideas and shared experiences. It also serves as support group (because change is never easy), promotional arm and globally-attuned tasting panel. While real change is often slow to take hold in Switzerland, it can be hastened […]
Ticino Wine Festival — 2019
It may surprise some that at 266,000 hectares, Merlot is the second most planted grape variety in the world. A substantial portion of that number (74,550 hectares) is found in Bordeaux alone. When you add in the rest of France—especially the south where it enjoys a sizable footprint—it doesn’t leave much for the rest of […]
Pinot Noir from the Bielersee — It Runs In the Family
Standing in the vineyards between Ligerz and Twann I often feel a little dreamy as I stare at the Bierlersee below and its signature landmark, St. Peter’s Island. From this vantage point I can only begin to imagine the serene isolation of someone living there alone, as the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau did for a short […]
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