The Mondial du Merlot world wine competition takes place this weekend in Sierre, canton Valais, and I’ll be taking part as a judge. Earlier today I was interviewed by WRS radio in Geneva about this grape and its wines, canton Ticino’s specialty. I mentioned a few wines on the show and promised to provide their […]
Ticino
Zap! Ticino sommelier’s speedy champagne uncorking
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s Mirko Rainier has just entered the Guinness World Records , reports Swiss public broadcaster RTS (you won’t yet find him officially listed there), for uncorking 47 bottles of champagne in one minute, using a saber. Rainier, sommelier and manager of the Atenaeo del vino restaurant in Mendrisio, canton Ticino, carried out […]
Sleuthing a Flaesch Pinot’s 91 points from Parker
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Here’s the news: Pinot Noir ’09 from Gantenbein winery in canton Graubuenden was given a note of 91 by Robert Parker wine reviewer Neal Martin. This comes on the heels of four Swiss wines mentioned recently by another Parker reviewer, David Schildknecht. The information was bundled into a press release from Swiss […]
Regional travel & wine: Switzerland’s surprising wines
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Torches light the lovely 15th-century cobblestone courtyard, once a two- or three-hour carriage ride from Geneva. A hum of voices carries from an open cellar door where soft candlelight offers a glimpse of amphoras and barrels. Upstairs, in a renovated area of the old Grand’Cour château, Jean-Pierre Pellegrin describes what makes his […]
World’s top Merlots are Swiss, French, Romanian and Lebanese
Bordeaux takes top prize, Ticino winery named world champion GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Earl Roumage winery in St Germain du Puch, France, won both the Best Merlot Varietal (single grape) and the Best Foreign Varietal Merlot prizes at the Mondial du Merlot wine competition, the Vinea Association in Sierre announced Friday 28 September. Cantina Monti […]