Lady Chasselas 2013, Mylène Bru, Vin de France This is the third in a series of adventures wherein the peripatetic author seeks out chasselas in unlikely foreign venues. As we all know Switzerland’s native white grape is not well represented outside of its home country but when it is found elsewhere duty and allegiance demand that I […]
Tag: Chasselas
Profile: La Maison du Moulin (Coinsins, La Côte, Vaud)
It’s three weeks into the new year and the weather is already historic—the coldest January in 30 years—and on this day it’s even colder with bone-numbing winds. Fortunately the family car is equipped with new snow tires, 4-wheel drive and GPS. All three are necessary with La Bise Noire in full fury and snow drifts obliterating […]
Profile: Cru de l’Hôpital (Môtier, Fribourg)
The angelic mien and soft-spoken pitch of Christian Vessaz, winemaker and director of Cru de l’Hôpital in the village of Môtier, does not fully assuage a gut feeling I have that beneath the reserve are two frantically paddling feet—a not inappropriate image in this lakes region of the Swiss plateau. It also happens to be […]
Wine with Dinner: Randomly Chosen in October 2016
Nature is clockwork. Just as the grape harvest wraps up in Switzerland the temperatures drop. Fall is here and it is in the air. By all accounts 2016 looks to be another excellent harvest with fine, dry weather until the tail end of the season when there was quite a bit of rain. By that […]
Desperately Seeking Chasselas: San Francisco, California (Part 2)
My supply of chasselas was trending dangerously low even before I reserved the one meal designed to test the limits of its versatility as a jack-of-all–trades wine. It’s all well and good to pair chasselas with fondue, raclette or even a ripe Vacherin Mont d’Or but with arbol, habañero and chipotle chiles? With lime juice? […]
Wine with Dinner: Randomly Chosen in August
The End of Summer Approaches Another month is in the books and new experiences are ready to share. The August round-up focuses on Geneva which I'm told I don't pay enough attention to. I actually do have plans to profile a couple of Geneva producers so please stay tuned. Later this month my profiles of […]
Profile: Domaine de la Maison Carrée (Auvernier, Neuchâtel)
There is a special quiet to a traditional wine village at rest. No people, no sounds, no stress, and only meters from the past season’s slumbering wine behind the solid walls that line the street. For me, walking the streets is the perfect preparation for tasting. I call it calibrating the senses—listening carefully for the […]
Wine with Dinner: Randomly Chosen in July
August is summer vacation month in Europe but there will be no let up on these pages. There’s always a lot of wine to taste, especially with the Weber grill at peak capacity, and wineries to visit. August will take me on a couple of excursions: first to Graubünden and Weinguts Donatsch and Adank in […]
Mondial du Chasselas: Les Palmarès 2016
Chasselas is about balance: Terroir, but not too much; Fruit, but not too much; Round and full, but not too much; Acidic, but not too much.—Stéphanie Delarze in Chasselas Forever The History While most of the world is content to eat chasselas out of hand the Swiss are hard at work transforming its golden-hued berries […]
An Honest Attempt to Debunk the Myth That Swiss Wine Is Expensive
It’s a familiar refrain: Swiss wine is too expensive, it won’t sell. Crooners of that song, including the eminent and influential Jancis Robinson, repeat it so often that most consider it axiomatic. Well, I’m here to say that nothing can be further from the truth—at least some of the time. The Set-up The best way […]
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