Each year the Fête de la Nature invites the public to reconnect with nature via an ambitious schedule of hikes, lectures, hands-on activities, and guided tours to parks and nature reserves that collectively celebrate the diversity of Switzerland’s natural wonders. This year I participated in the program Les Perles de Zeneggen organized by the Musée […]
Tag: Swiss Grapes
Swiss Grapes: Chasselas—International Grape of Mystery
Several months ago, I made the case there is too much Chasselas in Switzerland. My well-meaning rant was in response to a call from farmers for more government support for those with excess wine to sell—mostly, over-cropped Chasselas. Although I stand by my original thesis—that no one should subsidize inferior wine—I do want to make […]
Swiss Grapes: Amigne — The Pride of Vétroz
Any discussion of the rare Swiss grape Amigne should begin with a mention of its longtime home, Vétroz. This nondescript village of 6400 residents boasts 174 hectares of vineyards — 102 of which are planted on terraces supported by exquisitely crafted dry-stone walls (Fig. 1). More than one-third of this privileged portion is devoted to Amigne. […]
Swiss Grapes: Completer — The Answer to a Prayer
This article first appeared in Trink Magazine — Issue 04-07-2021 By traditional measures, my first year of college was a waste. I spent a lot of it playing cards with a gang of liberal theologians at a Jesuit university in California. Towering above the group was our guru, the truest Renaissance man I’ve ever met […]
Swiss Grapes: Räuschling — The Acid Queen
Despite an encouraging trend toward greater grapevine diversity, two varieties continue to dominate the Swiss wine landscape: Pinot Noir is here to stay, because the Swiss, like their German counterparts, fancy themselves the new masters of this sensitive, climate-threatened variety; and the much-maligned Chasselas because it’s so emblematic of Swiss culture as the workhorse wine […]
Müller-Thurgau: Then and Now
I would argue that the much-maligned cross of Riesling x Silvaner, better known as Müller-Thurgau, is a dual national. There’s no doubt the variety was born in Germany, but what’s not so well known is that it came of age in Switzerland. It was created by a Swiss scientist, Hermann Müller, at Geisenheim in the […]
Swiss Grapes: Sauvignon Soyhières
There’s a slight claustrophobic ends-of-the-earth vibe to the Jurassian village of Soyhières (Pop. 433). It has the plain vanilla look of 1950’s Swiss functionality with a lingering undercurrent of separatism and a patois (Vâdais) all its own. The village itself offers none of the postcard images one expects from rural Switzerland but the seasonal pastures and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Swiss Grapes: Plantscher, Blanchier, Bordeaux Blanc, Gros Bourgogne — Who’s Your Daddy?
The ancient Swiss variety, Plantscher (aka Blanchier, Gros Bourgogne or Bordeaux Blanc), is perhaps best known for having nothing to do with Burgundy or Bordeaux. In fact, it’s an off-spring of the Hungarian grape Furmint and its likely place of origin is Central Europe. What makes the Plantscher story particularly vexing (and ironic) is that […]
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