Mémoire & Friends: Zürich 2017

This year’s Mémoire & Friends tasting relocated to the slightly outré District 5 neighborhood of Zürich—and the Schiffbau event center—from its usual home in the staid lakefront area. The event even adopted the aura of an alternative wine fair because of it. I quite enjoyed it, except for the hot weather and cramped quarters. But […]

Parker Does Switzerland: The Wine Advocate Speaks — Part 2, The Reds

Part 2 of “Parker Does Switzerland” is devoted to the nineteen red wines reviewed in common with these pages. They range from point noir to merlot with cornalin and syrah thrown in. Wine Advocate staff writer, Stephen Reinhardt, also reviews a rare gamay bio-type, Plant Robert—from there he goes on to incorrectly assert that gamay is only significant in Geneva. That’s […]

A Wine of Note: Winzerei Zur Metzg

I’m always in awe of a commentator with enough grace and confidence to fairly describe a wine even when it’s not to their taste. It’s tough to do but rewarding when it happens. This inherently generous act alerts others who may find excitement in the eccentricities and beauty in the perceived shortcomings I might find. […]

Mémoire & Friends: Zürich 2016

This year marks an end to the collaboration between Zürich’s Kongresshaus and the Mémoire & Friends annual gathering. One of the city’s most iconic facilities is headed for a retrofit and remodel while event organizers scramble for a new home. As of this writing there is still no secured venue which, sadly, places next year’s […]

MDVS 2016: Part 1 – White Wine

Mémoire des Vins Suisse—Geneva 2016 After 40 years and more than a thousand wine tastings later—after countless wine dinners, winery visits, seminars, panels, junkets and bottles opened at home—I am finally ready to confess that two of my favorite wine events ever are the two most recent MDVS gatherings: Mémoire and Friends in Zürich and […]