Until this week, I’d never had a Moldovan wine. Here’s my primer and wine tasting notes, after a Wednesday evening visit to the 13 stands of the guest of honour, Wine of Moldova, at the Arvinis wine fair in Montreux (April 25-30). The country, the wine regions The country is the Republic of Moldova (1991), previously the […]
grapes
Suzukii fight could bump up wine prices
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss federal agriculture officials say that the cost of fighting the devastating Drosophila suzukii (spotted wing drosophila) pest could start at CHF3,000 per hectare, and rise, depending on the intensity of the grower’s efforts to deal with it. One hectare can provide a wine producer with anywhere from 700 to 3,000 bottles […]
When are grapes ripe?
Adapted from Ellen’s Garden World, published 1 October 2014 The grape harvest has begun in Switzerland, but many of the best growers are holding off for a few more days. As the author of the first book in English on Swiss wines in 20 years (Vineglorious! Switzerland’s Wondrous World of Wines), I’m out in the […]
Grapes: great so far, fingers crossed
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva is the latest area to declare its grapes very healthy, as we head into the critical month of September. Cantonal authorities have been testing the wine grapes and checking their health in the past few days. Guillaume Potterat, an oenologist with canton Geneva, told newspaper GHI that it’s too early to […]
Three things about Scotland, learned this week
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – You carry a name like Wallace and you’re bound to be interested in all things Scottish, so when you’re Wallace, the wine writer, and you see that someone north of Edinburgh is planting grapes, you’re all ears. Bloomberg reports that Christopher Trotter, a food writer and chef, has planted 200 vines that […]