In my opinion, the canton of Geneva is the most complicated and frustrating wine region in Switzerland. To be sure, many great wines are made here by supremely skilled artisans, but there are still too many sub-standard wines born out of complacency and lack of inspiration. It seems that while the rest of Switzerland is […]
Tag: Gamay
On the Dôle: Not Quite Down and Out in Valais
During the long French summer of 1937 the marriage of close relatives, Pinot Noir and Gamay, was officially consummated with a new AOC. Since then, Bourgogne Passetoutgrain has been the standard bearer and sole guardian of this sometimes uneasy union. I say “uneasy” because the original cahier des charges has changed very little in the […]
2023: A Summer of Tasting—Episode One
Swiss Natural Wine Festival: Three Years Later As a seasoned taster, you might think the biggest downer to afflict a natural wine event would be the opinions of a few chip-on-the-shoulder wine critics who write for magazines nobody reads anymore. But you would be wrong. The biggest downer, as I recently discovered, is a climate […]
Swiss Grapes—The Twins: Gamaret & Garanoir
Whenever I think of gamaret I immediately think of its less assertive twin, garanoir. And whenever I think of twins I immediately think of the Silva sisters, Sheila and Sonja. The dreaded sisters were the most formidable antagonists of my childhood and the first set of twins to enter my consciousness as classmates in kindergarten. I remember […]
The Last Man Standing — Domaine de Mucelle
It’s not everyday that a two hundred year old international treaty is invoked to settle modern customs and cross-border taxation issues, but France and Switzerland, or more specifically the Republic of Geneva, can break out The Treaty of Paris every now and then as an example. Article One, Section Three of the 1815 Treaty — […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Profile: Steve Bettschen — Living the Phusis Life
When I slow down enough to glimpse the future of Swiss wine, it’s almost always with a next generation winemaker in tow, just returned from an apprenticeship abroad and flush with new ideas and important contacts. Some of them are excited for the opportunity to blaze a new path apart from the previous generation’s, and […]
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