Swiss Syrah learning curve Geneva was home to a terrific master class in June of Syrah wines from granite areas, a project offered by jointly by the AOC St Joseph in France and Fully vignérons in Valais, Switzerland. It included north of northern Rhone Syrahs from Valais and northern Rhone wines from France, whose vineyards […]
Archives for November 2018
Could biodynamic be the future of Swiss wine?
Nicolas Joly pitches biodynamic to the Swiss Nicolas Joly is a superstar in the increasingly accepted world of biodynamic winemaking, although he would probably cringe at that label. But a presentation Monday night in Valais, at the Tsampéhro cellar in Flanthey, made it was easy to see why he’s not just another farmer touting natural […]
Chef of the year Giovannini, on pistachios
The year the second chef became the owner Yesterday I learned I am one of the 80-85% of people who eat at the Hôtel de Ville Crissier who, as it turns out, are local folk, not tourists from abroad at all. Franck Giovannini, head chef, gave some of us the figure when we spoke after lunch, […]
The height of discretion
Terravin’s best Vaud Chasselas It was glass number 13 that forced me to stop and ask myself if it is really possible for a single wine to be the absolute best. And for us – the judges for the Lauriers de Platine Terravin – to choose it with any certainty. To be clear: this is […]
Why it pays to visit small wineries
A glass of wine is of course much more than its contents. It’s a place, its geography and geology, its history, its people. When you visit a small winery, you have a chance to hear about this. Last weekend I went to Colline de Daval in Sierre to learn a bit about distilling, of which […]