Les Glorieuses is a series of wine tastings held on four Mondays in May every year in Martigny. It’s open to wine and food professionals and tends to attract many sommeliers – Mondays were chosen because that’s the day when many restaurants are closed and sommeliers have a day off. I made it to two […]
Wineries
2018 Swiss white wines: state of the art
Between March and late June I was busy tasting scores of Swiss white wines from every corner of the country. March is when the earliest bottled wines (except the January Neuchatel unfiltered wines) begin to show up at professional tastings. I’ve tasted them at wineries, some before they were bottled, others at a series of […]
Winespeak
One of the differences – there are many – between French and Swiss French terms in the vineyard: while the French vigneron, who makes wine from his own grapes (and is normally called a vigneron-encaveur in Switzerland) cuts back summertime exuberant growth and speaks of le rognage, his Swiss counterpart uses the verb cisailler. Both also use effeuillage more formally. The point of the […]
Book reviews: gardens, wines
Bergli, an English language publisher in Basel, has two new books out that are relevant here: Gardens Switzerland and The Landscape of Swiss Wine. The first, about large public and private gardens, is a gem. The wine book has good points but is significantly flawed.[…]
Uncork now: a Spanish gold medal red, 15 May
Roble wines are lighter and fresher, but they don’t always bring out the best in the Tempranillo grape, called Tinto Fino or Tinto País in Ribera del Duero. The 2017 Protos version is a very good example of what this wine can and should be. […]