Sierre, Valais (GenevaLunch) – Vaud has surprised heavyweight Valais by taking five of the six places for nominees to the title of the country’s best Chasselas (known as Fendant in canton Valais), the white wine for which French-speaking Switzerland has traditionally been known. The six wines were nominated for three medals, with the winners to […]
Sierre
A day off
The weather was glorious, perfect for just about any gardening chores, but sometimes you have to stop gardening and take a day or two off, hang out, travel the way non-gardeners do. Here are some of the things creatures of various sorts in Geneva, Vaud and Valais were doing on the first real warm-weather weekend […]
Oh so sweet, those fine old grapes!
In mid-December on a beautiful afternoon as the sun was sinking I took a series of photos of snowy vineyards above Sierre, in the Valais. Several of the vines were still covered with netting and the grapes sat cool but still relatively plump on the vines, waiting for the late harvest. Photos: Valais, Switzerland, 15 […]
When the blind lead the blind to a glass
Photo: Had we been able to see our wine it would have looked a bit like this. Six journalists lined up inside the Town Hall of Sierre, Valais Sunday to do a truly blind wine tasting. We put our left arms on the shoulders of the people in front of us, someone closed a pair […]
Pinot Noir, the holy grail of winemakers
Photo, top: an unusal feature at the Mondial du Pinot Noir this year was a truly blind tasting, with small groups of judges led into a darkened room where they tasted wines without the benefit of seeing them. Photo, below: much is learned about a wine simply by looking at it in the glass, watching […]