In a series of blind-tastings of 9,200 wines over three days, by 350 judges, where no one knew the country of origin of any of the wines, Switzerland was the fifth most bemedalled country at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, a remarkable feat.
Domaine des Muses
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 […]
Top picks, reds from Vinea fair
I normally opt to taste a lot of Pinot Noir at the Vinea Wine Fair, but this year my focus was other reds, in particular Gamays and Cornalins. My notes on favourites from tasting them yesterday – Friday – follow, ending with other reds that were among my top wines tasted at Vinea. This year […]
Five wines for Chinese visitors
Last week I gave a presentation on Swiss wines and led a tasting session of five wines from western Switzerland for a group of 30 Chinese managers from Harbin. They are following a three-week intensive course at the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz’s International Programme in Solothurn. Strong interest, lively discussions and wonderful questions all around. Here are […]
Parker team wakes up to Swiss wines (update)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Those of us who know Swiss wines knew the day would come when the Robert Parkers of the world would discover Helvetia’s rich and varied collection of wines; that day has arrived. Swiss wine researcher and author José Vouillamoz in 2011 invited David Schildknecht, a member of Parker’s wine reviewing team and […]