I would never have discovered one particularly beautiful perch on an Alpine slope if it weren’t for Dr Henry Wuilloud. The exhibit “Les 1001 vies [the 1001 lives] du Docteur Wuilloud” at the Valais Wine Museum in Sierre/Salgesch runs for another month, until 30 November. It opened in March with a remarkable conference and tasting […]
Wineries
Vaud cooperative named Swiss Winery of the Year
Cave de la Côte in Tolochenaz, canton Vaud, has been named the Swiss Winery of the Year 2019 by the Vinea Association and Vinum magazine. The title is awarded as part of the Grand Prix des Vins Suisses, the largest competition for Swiss wines, which had 3,254 wines entered by 544 wineries. The wines are […]
2018 Swiss wines: young Valais wines tasted in May
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 […]
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 […]