Tradition is a hot word in wine marketing right now, one that reassures consumers – and yet few of us who are on the buying end of the sales chain question what it means, I think. If you have been making wine the same way for 50 years, does that make your wine traditional? 100 years? Or what […]
Fully
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 […]
Golden chance to hike Follatères
If you have a chance to join the Valais wine and vine museum’s Ascension Day hike this year, you should: Thursday 14 May from 9:30 to noon, rendezvous at the Fol’terres pavilion at the west end of Fully, two minutes from the Martigny-Fully autoroute exit. The guided walk is in French but Anne-Do Zufferey, the […]
Ski slopes and Petite Arvine
Note: At the end here you’ll find an interview done with me by Tony Johnston at WRS radio in Geneva, about Petite Arvine, one of Switzerland’s most interesting “native” specialty grapes. Tony and I have agreed to talk about a Swiss wine pick of mine every three weeks. This is not a commercial agreement and […]
High tech label for Swiss sparkling wine
“Swiss” wine with Valais and Vaud traits, a taste of the future? Now you don’t see it, now you do! A surprising label that reveals itself fully only after sitting for a moment in cold water is the marketing ploy for a new wine from Lavaux winery Etienne & Louis Fonjallaz. “Révélation Brut Rosé” (CHF42) […]