Advertisement ::

Enlarge Cartoon

Left to right, at the Musée du vin in Paris: François Murisier, president of Vinea, Elisabeth Pasquier, Vinea’s director, Swiss Ambassador to France Ulrich Lehner and his wife, Musée du Vin conservator, Jean-Jacques Hervy and his wife

Swiss wines take impressive 11% of gold awards

Swiss wines had a rare opportunity to charm Parisian palates last weekend and, according to Vinea’s new president, Francois Murisier, the wines went down very well, thank you. The Vinalies international wine competition in Paris that has just ended included a presentation Sunday night 28 February, for the 120 judges and several guests, of Swiss regional products, including a selection of top-quality wines. Murisier noted that the main advantage of this type of event “is to be able to use Swiss wines and AOC products as ambassadors for Switzerland, as a means of highlighting their excellence. It’s a wonderful calling card that we should use more often.”

Swiss AOC products showcased

The dinner was held at the wine museum in Paris. Alain Farine, director of the Swiss AOC association, offered a choice of cheeses for the starter buffet: Sbrinz AOC, Tête de Moine AOC, Gruyère AOC, Valais dried meat and Valais AOC rye bread.

The Valais AOC raclette cheeses were selected by Valais cheese affineur Claude Luissier. The cheese was melted for the guests by a group of Alpine racleurs. A pear sorbet was accompanied by Wiliamine Morand – pear Wiliams eau de vie Valais AOC.

The Vinalies competition is widely considered one of the top international wine competitions, with 140 judges reviewing 3,000-plus wines for the 2010 event. It lasted six days, and required five months preparation, according to FR3, with 25 people serving the judges in series of 15 wines for the highly organized tasting session.

Swiss wines won an impressive 86 medals, including 29 gold medals out of a total of 266, or 11 percent of the top awards, with wines from 52 countries registered.

Among the top Swiss winners were several from the Lake Geneva region, including gold winners:

Vaud

• Artisans Vignerons d’Yvorne Société Coopérative (red: “Cépages nobles élevé en fût de chêne vigne d’or”)
• Bolle & Cie (red: “Bolle Garanoir cuvée unique”)
• Cave Phililppe Bovet (white: “Philippe Bovet Sauvignon blanc”)

Geneva: Domaine des Bosson (white: AOC Peissy, “Eric Leyvraz Sauvignon gris”)

Complete list of Swiss wines that were awarded medals

Both comments and pings are currently closed.