The BBC carries a good summary of what’s happening in the Chinese fine wine market – essentially, it zoomed up and then although it hasn’t crashed, it certainly slipped and before hitting a plateau. What’s missing from the article is any mention of something several of us discussed during a restaurant dinner last night: the […]
Archives for February 2014
The good, the bad and the real saffron
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – ISO standards for saffron! I wasn’t expecting this in my mailbox. Did you know (I’m reading their press release) that one kilo costs about €30,000 on the market and about 250,000 flowers are needed for 1 kg of saffron? I’m waiting for spring to come so friends in Venthône in Valais can […]
Poor Basel, no grapes for wine
Just ask this pair, Spider monkey and her offspring at Basel Zoo, what happened to all the grapes. Photo republished with permission from Emmanuel Keller on Flickr.
Older Swiss vintages week, golden opportunity
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – You have two wonderful chances to learn about older Swiss vintages in the next few days. If you’re one of the people who thinks Swiss wines should only be drunk young, you’re in for a major surprise. Tomorrow evening, 20 February, 15 restaurants in Geneva, Vaud and Valais are taking part in La […]
French, Italian military escorted Ethiopian plane
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – One of the curious details to come out of Monday’s hijacking of an Ethiopian airliner by its co-pilot was reported by RTS public broadcasting: the Swiss air force was not at work yet, so the plane was escorted first by Italian, then by French military planes. Swiss fighter pilots don’t begin work […]