This was a walkabout tasting of fine wines that let me compare different Swiss wineries’ Pinot Noirs. It was also an opportunity to make other types of comparisons among wines that have been given at least 90 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
Wineries
The Heart of the Matter
Saturday I headed to Zurich for Matter of Taste, the fine wines walkabout organized by Robert Parker, which featured 600 wines from around the world that have received 90 or more points from Parker’s Wine Advocate. Most, in fact, have 92+ points. About 50 of these were wines from host country Switzerland.
St Joseph and Côte Rôtie, steeped in Syrah
I was visiting wineries in the heart of the Côte Rôtie appellation, one of 28 AOCs in France’s Rhone Valley region. It is arguably the most exclusive of the AOCs, with some of the most refined and often most expensive wines.
Winespeak: vine body parts
It’s high season for pruning vines in Switzerland, the job grape growers say determines whether or not they will have the best possible grapes. I spent a chilly afternoon learning to prune vines.
Between Earth and Sky
Valentina Andrei and Nicolas Wüst with one of the first in a budding and beautiful collection of wines, Ivresse: think of the elegant sense of the word in French, a state of euphoria.