The year 2020 promises to be a corker for one of Graubünden’s leading families and most accomplished wineries. The year will mark Georg Fromm’s fiftieth harvest in Malans, the fifteenth anniversary of his first single-vineyard Pinot Noir—Schöpfi—and the tenth anniversary of his largest cru—Selvenen. Given this convergence of important anniversaries, I would think a blow-out […]
Profile: Litwan Wein (Oberhof, Aargau)
The first thing you notice about the wine country in Aargau is what you don’t notice: vineyards. That’s because Aargau, in contrast to the comparably-sized but contiguous vineyards of Bündner-Herrschaft and Klettgau, offers a different proposition—discrete micro-parcels scattered in hidden, often heavily wooded valleys. In other words, rather than monoculture, Aargau offers a diversity of […]
Domaine de la Ville de Morges: A Natural Pivot
A wise winemaker/photographer friend given to platitudes offered up the following: A perfectly focused photograph and a flawless wine are of no interest to me. I need more. Buried in there somewhere is the observation that a focused photograph and a flawless wine both require technical proficiency to execute, but, without more, may fail to […]
Vinea On Tour: A Few Stand-Out Wines
The Vinea road-show organizers took pity on me this year and finally staged one of its tastings in my back yard of Geneva. Vinea is a Swiss wine trade organization that sponsors tastings of its member’s wines in various locations throughout the year, culminating in the epic, two-day Grand Prix du Vin Suisse in Sierre. It […]
Les Vignes de Paradis: Chasselas From the Other Side of the Lake
Within minutes of my home in the Geneva suburb of Vésenaz are four vineyards located along the south shore of Lake Geneva. Each is devoted to the iconic Swiss grape Chasselas, but not one is located in Switzerland. What gives? The four — Crépy, Marignan, Marin and Ripaille — are crus in the neighboring French […]
Valais: The Lay of the Land
A recently published inventory of vines by the Office Cantonal de la Viticulture in Valais offers some perspective on where the canton stands in its effort to refocus on native varieties. The newest vine register provides a snapshot of the changes from 1991 to 2017. The first key takeaway is that the surface area dedicated to […]
Domaine La Colombe: Pinot Gris “La Colombe Grise” Retrospective — 2015-2006
Back in the formative years of my professional career Pinot Gris was a life-jacketed castaway clinging to a barrel stave in the vast sea of wine. Its most significant presence was in Alsace, but even there it was treading water and a second fiddle to Riesling. Gewürztraminer was an afterthought and continues to flail close […]
Compagnie du Miel: Mono-Varietal Honey from Madagascar
The geek in me loves things that smell and taste of place. I think my brain is wired that way. That’s why certain wines appeal to me while others leave me cold. The same can be said for a few of my other favorite things—coffee, tea, olive oil, scotch whisky, tequila and honey. Notice I […]
Profile: Steiner Schernelz Village (Ligerz, Bern)
The public transport options in Switzerland are many and they’re famously efficient but is there one as quirky as the Vinifuni of Ligerz? Probably not. A funicular is a thoroughly Swiss contraption that runs on rails in steep and difficult to access areas. It’s a mechanized version of the mule. When one is available it’s […]
Three from Geneva: A Contrast in Styles
When the Three Bears of porridge fame attend a wine tasting their scribbled notes might read something like this: Chasselas number one is too light; Chasselas number two is too heavy; but Chasselas number three—ahhh, that one’s just right. After my recent trip to the Vinumrarum event in Bern, I can relate. Among the numerous family […]
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