It’s time once again to raid the cellars of generous MDVS members who, each year, invite wine media types, professionals and knowledgeable enthusiasts to taste through a mini-vertical of one of their signature wines. This year’s event was held at the Kursaal Event Center in the lovely capital city of Bern. Kursaal is an impressive meeting space that overlooks the […]
Tag: Swiss Wine
Profile: Domaine La Colombe (Féchy, La Côte, Vaud)
While Lavaux primps and preens for the camera, its sibling, La Côte, is quietly at work behind the scenes. With nearly three times the vines of Lavaux, La Côte receives only a fraction of the attention. It has no dramatic terraces to seduce camera-laden tourists and no Grand Cru AOC’s to offer them. Its languid vineyards flow gently […]
A Wine of Note: Cave Caloz (Miège, Valais)
Syrah, Les Bernunes 2015, Cave Caloz, Valais If not for a recent Côte-Rôtie tasting and roadshow in Geneva I might have skipped over this little gem from the other “roasted slope” above Sierre in Valais. To be honest, syrah tends to be invisible. It’s usually presented in an off-handed way or as an afterthought when there […]
Chardonnay in Switzerland: No Respect
To the casual observer of Swiss wine the primacy of pinot noir among the red varieties suggests that its stablemate, chardonnay, enjoys the same favored status among the whites. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even though chardonnay ranks as the fifth most planted variety in the world—almost 200,000 hectares spread among countless winemaking nations—it’s monopolized by […]
Swiss Grapes: Salvagnin or Servagnin — Which Is It?
There’s almost never a thought given to the rare benefits of the Black Death pandemic of the Middle Ages but the existence of Servagnin de Morges is one of them. The story begins more than 600 years ago in France with one of the most consequential edicts in wine history: (The Duke of Burgundy) Philip the […]
Profile: Weinbau Markus Ruch (Neunkirch, Schaffhausen)
There’s no easy way to shake things up in conservative rural Switzerland. Take the wine business, for example, and the plight of Markus Ruch. Some nonplussed locals have asked how a newcomer has the nerve to charge more for his wine than do legacy wineries. Other local skeptics want to know why he plumps for biodynamics when conventional agriculture works just fine. Still others wonder why he does women’s work by […]
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 […]
Parker Does Switzerland: The Wine Advocate Speaks — Part 1, The Whites
The Robert Parker/Wine Advocate brand couldn’t have timed it any better. First, stir up the usually dignified Swiss wine community with a rare review of 200 or so of its wines, then time publication of the results to coincide with February’s “Matter of Taste” event in Zürich. Voilà, sold out event. Never mind that Parker […]
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 […]
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 […]
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