The Raw Wine Fair: London 2016 — The Swiss Guard

London is on fire. Apart from its wildly popular tourist attractions, London has evolved into a world-wide advert for provenance-based food sourcing as practiced by hundreds of its ardent chef believers. Quality local and regional foodstuffs are flourishing, family farms are reawakening and sustainable farming practices are restoring the health of the land. Just as […]

Wine with Dinner: Randomly Chosen in May

Ready for Summer!! A little house-cleaning in May brought out these samples from the cellar. Don’t hesitate to search for and try the interesting French-American hybrid from Geneva and the stellar Mondeuse from Canton Vaud. Nothing like some juicy reds to finish off the month but first some white wines of note. Aligoté 2014, Domaine […]

MDVS 2016: Part 2 – Red Wine

Part Two of my tasting at the MDVS event staged at Geneva’s newly restored Hôtel Beau-Rivage focuses on red wine. Once again I did not taste everything but can recommend these as being among the best wines of the day. Cabernet and Blends Domaine Grand’Cour (Satigny, Geneva): This ambitious winery draws a lot of inspiration […]

Profile: Luc Massy (Epesses, Lavaux, Vaud)

  Luc Massy is one of the leading lights in the Swiss wine community. He is revered both as an ambassador for chasselas and as the soft-spoken force behind one of its most iconic brands. His tireless efforts have positioned Luc Massy, the enterprise—and its medieval-inspired label Chemin de Fer—as one of the few recognizably […]

A Wine of Note: Domaine Wannaz

Merlot, “Chante” 2012, Coteaux de Léman, Domaine Wannaz, VdP Suisse The poem/tasting note on the front label, roughly translated, reads: “A flash of sour cherries and the scent of vanilla are the perfumes inhaled from the peace pipe of the all powerful.” I’d like to say that about sums it up, but I can’t, because […]

Le Chef: A New Dining Destination at Geneva International Airport

Benjamin Luzuy is a busy man. That’s what happens when talent meets opportunity. Always full of new ideas and the vision to execute them, Luzuy has proven ready to seize the moment when a landlord approaches him with a unique restaurant space in need of a partner-tenant or when a financier with capital seeks a […]

A Wine of Note: Valentina Andrei

Fendant 2014, Valentina Andrei, Valais (chasselas) On a quick visit to one of my favorite wine stores, Le Passeur du Vin in Geneva, I came across this little bit of history modestly floor-stacked among the new arrivals: the first vintage from Valentina Andrei’s eponymous winery. A transplanted Romanian, Ms. Andrei is already a bit of […]

A Wine of Note: Tom Litwan

Pinot Noir, “Chalofe” 2013, Thalheim (Tom Litwan), Aargau In a recent article wine writer and author Jon Bonné makes an obligatory end of year prediction designed to arouse controversy, to wit: Swabia will be Europe’s next great wine region. He notes the wines have already passed hipster muster in Brooklyn and San Francisco and are […]

Profile: Paul-Henri Soler (Meyrin, Geneva)

Every once in a while I come across a winemaker whose character and art defy description. Ladies and gentlemen, I have recently met such a man, his name is Paul-Henri Soler. Mr. Soler came to my attention while I was researching the natural wine movement in Switzerland. He hails from the French side of the […]

Wine with Dinner: Randomly Chosen in October

It’s the end of another month so here is a rundown of the bottles popped and enjoyed. I am beginning to recognize that Switzerland is a treasure trove of unique wines, places and people. There is passion and dedication here and we are beginning to see lots of experimentation to boot. There is a natural […]