Vertical tasting of 7 vintages, Cave La Colombe It’s probably safe to say almost no one beyond a handful of wine industry professionals really masters the appellation and naming system for Swiss wines. This is in any event changing soon, so don’t be surprised if I say I drank a really good wine called Curzilles […]
Search Results for: glacier wine
Winespeak: Why we say Valais, not the Valais
Swiss cantons have official designations in German, French, Italian and English. Note that the English name is not “The Valais”, but Valais, with English usage clearly defined by the Swiss Confederation’s official style guide.
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 […]
Recent wine fun, Best of Swiss Wine Tourism
Prologue: cycling, diplomats, wine in Spain I haven’t been writing here much lately. This summer has been devoted mainly to three things: renovating a garden, building up physical strength following three major orthopaedic surgeries in 15 months and working on a collection of essays and another of short stories. But there has been, happily, time […]
Ice wine is kin, but not twin, to late harvest wines
Wine-searcher has just published a helpful “Complete Guide to Ice Wine“. I’m often asked if Switzerland’s justly famous sweet late harvest wines are ice wines, because people from elsewhere assume that with snowy Alpine peaks this is a cold country and the grapes freeze on the vines. The term “vin de glacier” adds confusion to […]