Join GL editor and Swiss wine specialist Ellen Wallace for official guided visit and introduction to Swiss wines, limited to 15 persons! In cooperation with Vinea
Details
GENEVA / ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Vinea, Switzerland’s largest outdoor wine fair, runs on Friday and Saturday this year, 31 August and 1 September. The full programme is now out and here are the highlights, from the organization’s press release:
New this year: the Vinea Swiss wine fair will cover two days, Friday 31 August and Saturday 1 September, from 11:00 to 19:00, in the streets of Sierre, where 150 producers will present their finest wines.
The programme for the 19th wine fair will please the general public, winelovers and professionals. Some 1,200 wines, from numerous grape varieties and a wide range of growing situations, will be available for tasting. In addition to home canton Valais’s producers, five other wine regions from Switzerland are taking part in this open air “wine bar” in the heart of the town of Sierre.
Rioja and Geneva are guests of honour
The language of wine is universal, which is why, every year, Vinea invites a foreign guest of honour. Following Sicily last year, the wine fair in 2012 has invited Rioja wines: the largest appellation d’origine in Spain and the one with the greatest reputation. This region, whose wine grape-growing surface area is four times that of Switzerland, produces exceptional wines that the visitor will be able to discover in the streets of Sierre, as well as during a tasting workshop, a “voyage to the land of 1,000 wines”.
Vins de Genève, representing Switzerland’s third largest wine region, is the Swiss guest of honour: dynamic and innovative wine producers, emblematic grape varieties and a workshop that offers the opportunity to taste 17 versions of its very special blends, l’Esprit de Genève.
Taste Pinots from around the world
Vinea is offering lovers of the beautifully subtle and elegant Pinot wines, in all their forms, a chance to sample the award-winning wines from the Mondial des Pinot, to be announced 31 August. This is a special opportunity, not to be missed, to taste and compare the best Pinots that have been selected among the 1,300 wines from 24 countries taking part in this important international competition.
The issues faced by Swiss wines today
Vinea also intends to serve as a forum for reflection, thus the conference and debate on the theme “Dare to go for Swiss wines”. Several well-known figures and leaders from the world of wine will take part in this discussion about the reasons wines from Switzerland are struggling to hold their own against foreign wines in the now highly competitive market. The programme takes place 31 August at 09:30 at the HES in Sierre. Journalist Isabelle Falconnier from Hebdo magazine will lead the debate. To register, send an e-mail to conference@vinea.ch.
For every taste
Wine-tasting workshops, free introduction to tasting for young people, a guided visit and introduction to Swiss wines in English, presentation of the famed sweet wines of the Grain Noble ConfidenCiel charter and of the award-winning Lauriers d’Or Terravin wines from canton Vaud, tasting opportunity with the wines from the historical winery Rouvinez Vins: Vinea 2012 has something for every taste and interest on its programme this year.
Visitors to the fair can organize their visit with help from the free iPhone/Android Vinea 2012 application, where they can keep track of their favourite wines.
Newcomers to the world of wine or serious winelovers will both be warmly welcomed at the largest open air wine event devoted to Swiss wines, a fair that is lively, fun and enriching.