My selection of Canada’s Okanagan wineries Four days in September were perfect for an introduction to Canada’s Okanagan wines. (See my background article on Canada’s western wine gems) I had a wonderful Vancouver host, Mike, who has explored many of the wineries and their wines over the years, and he had pre-selected some cellars he […]
Syrah
Citizen-vines: to be loved, to dance, to love
The weather has been clement, holidays are over, and out in the vineyards, the steady snip-snip of electric pruning clippers fills the air, now emptied of migratory birds gone south. I will go home to a fine oaked Syrah tonight, ready after four years maturing and bottle-cellared. First, though, a walk through the vines. The […]
Swiss wine 2009 vintage report
10 years on, how well are these wines doing? The Mémoire des Vins Suisses has become so well known as a collection of some of the finest wine producers in Switzerland that it’s easy to forget the original idea behind the group was to create a bank of diverse Swiss wines with aging potential and […]
Valais “star” wine awards
The Etoiles du Valais wine awards were handed out 4 December in Bern to the wineries judged the best in the canton in 2019, each for a wine that features the canton’s native son grape varieties. Vintages were 2018 except for Syrah, Cornalin and Heidi, which benefit from more time, and these awards were for […]
How one man changed the wine profile of Valais
Wine education Switzerland hosts a number of educational classes, often with tastings, from schools and museums and various wine groups. They are a great way to learn more about the landscape of Swiss wines – the culture, history, heritage, geography and more. The 1001 lives of Dr Wuilloud Henry Wuilloud was the subject of an […]