Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Put these dates on your wine-tasting calendar, with 2010 whites freshly bottled in Switzerland:
Whet your appetite as the tasting season opens by learning more about Chasselas, aka fendant in canton Valais: the Wine museum in Sierre, canton Valais, has a wonderful lecture series and 7 April you have a chance to hear José Vouillamoz, genetics specialist, talk about the true origins of Chasselas. He lectures in French, but his English is very good, if you have questions you want to put to him. Thursday, 7 April at the Musée du vin et des vignes in Sierre, Château de Villa, Sensorama, 20:00. Price, CHF25, museeduvin@netplus.ch or telephone: 027 456 3525.
Arvinis, the big regional wine fair in Morges, is where everyone goes to try the newly bottled vintage, and 2010 is definitely a year worth sampling. The guest wine-producing region this year is the Pays d’Oc in France. If your first reaction is to think of those seas of poor quality wine that washed over Europe 25 years ago, part of a sad story of over-production, think again. I tasted these wines last week and was very happily surprised to see how well their move towards varietal (single grape) wines is working. Details to follow but for now note the dates: 13-19 April, in Morges, canton Vaud.
Memoire des vins suisses (hurry to make this one!) in Bad Ragaz, a golden opportunity to try Swiss wines as they age. This is a small group of some of the country’s best winemakers who have created a bank of their finest aging wines, and once a year they meet to taste and comment on the wines as they get older. The wines are also available to the public, as part of this moveable feast. I’m on the train, en route to the event, and will be reporting back in the next couple of days, so if you couldn’t rush to Bad Ragaz, your loss, but I’m happy to share my notes on winemakers and their goods here.
Kursaal du Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, 7310 Bad Ragaz, 15:00-19:00, Thursday 31 March
Two smaller, local wine-tasting events are coming up, closer to home if you’re in the Lake Geneva area, and great opportunities to discover more about wine:
Simon Hardy has started a new business in recent months, Fitting Wines, that helps you find personalized wine solutions. He is organizing the first of what he promises will be regular Sunday brunches: Sunday 17 April 2011 from 11:30 – 14:30, at Caveau Orpheus, Rue des Terreaux 16, 1095 Lutry. Details and more on Fitting Wines
Leman Events has organized a wine-tasting session at the new Vinorama in the heart of Lavaux (Unesco World Heritage site): a presentation by François Margot in English about the relationship between Lavaux and Unesco, with a film showing one year in the life of a wine producer from the region. Light buffet and five wines, selected from some of the 200-plus Lavaux wines. 12 April, details.