A blend from Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The rare wine where we start with the wine and decide on a meal, because the wine is such a special treat. A beauty from start to finish, and despite its elegance it was perfect at home with an ordinary, unfussy meal centred around an old Costa […]
Switzerland
Gemma Hermitage
One of the wines matured inside the Rhone glacier by the Adrian Mathier winery. This Gemma line of four late harvest wines, all of them allowed to mature slowly at low temperatures, is one of the beauties of the Valais collection of wines. Made in new oak barrels, no malolactic fermentation, will age well for […]
Assemblage, red, Stéphane Gros
We had this as a first red when guests came to dinner, after nibbles and a white Chasselas. Main course was chicken, stuffed with tarragon and roasted with a healthy dose of potatoes, onions and garlic. It worked well with the meal but would probably have benefited from a slightly stronger meat, veal or red […]
Gwäss aka Gouais, Chanton
This is a curiosity wine and enjoyable plus a conversation piece! It is an old, old Swiss grape variety, Gouais in French, known as the Casanova of grapes for spawning so many offshoots. Chanton is the only winery that makes it, I believe. Lemon notes, strong acidity, dry and crisp but remarkably long in mouth. […]
Burgwein, Schmid Wetli winery
I drank this at the end of two days of wine-tasting, at a relaxing dinner with veal in a cream sauce, and it was simply splendid. We see too few wines from St Gallen, and it’s a reminder that there are some very good wines from this region.