Past the roses and under the arches to the international wines tasting session at the exquisite 1908 Chateau Mercie
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Right: Swiss wine is mostly drunk inside Switzerland. Wrong: it’s local stuff that can’t compete internationally and anyway, it’s too expensive.
A wine tasting session offered to journalists covering the Vinea Swiss wine fair Sunday 4 September in Sierre showed good Swiss wines out-performing or equaling fine wines from other countries.
To the surprise of many, the Swiss wines were generally less expensive.
Swiss wine journalists (this includes me, despite my foreign background), whose mantra has been for some time that good Swiss wines are excellent value, felt vindicated, one commented afterwards. Now to convince consumers that when you’re splashing out for a fine wine, think Swiss.
The tasting session of international grape variety wines was hosted by Vinea for 18 journalists, most of whom are wine writers.
Twelve of them are from neighbouring Swiss countries, including France, Belgium and Germany. The purpose, said Vinea president Francois Murisier, who had selected the Swiss wines, was to simply see how Swiss international wines fared when tasted alongside comparable quality wines from major producing countries.
Swiss are famous for native grape wines, but what about their ability to make international grape wines?
Wine tasting: glasses ready for the wine, buckets for what we spit out
Switzerland has a very good reputation for its native grape variety wines, but how well, he asked, would wines made from grapes such as Syrah or Chardonnay, grown worldwide, do?
Murisier selected the Swiss wines from gold medal winners at various wine competitions. Two professionals, without knowing what wines Murisier had chosen, selected wines from other countries that had won at least 90 points out of 100 in international wine competitions.
All of the wines cost at least CHF20 and all were under CHF80, to avoid cheap or very costly wines that could skewer the results.
The cheapest was CHF23.50 and the most expensive CHF75.00. Most were in the range of CHF28-35.
If you’ve been buying the old cliché that Swiss wines can’t hold a candle to good European or New World wines and that Swiss wines are more expensive than those from neighbouring countries, this is the time to change your thinking.
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah from around the world
We tasted four Chardonnays and four Sauvignon Blancs for the whites, followed by four Merlots and four Syrahs for the reds.
We knew that two out of each group were Swiss and our job was to a) guess what country they were from and b) give them points on a 20-point scale, with 15 as good and 20 as excellent.
The results
Crowds for EPFL open house, Geneva wines Open Day and CGN party to celebrate steamboat’s 100 years
Hands-on science lessons during EPFL open house in Lausanne
Update 18:20 Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first weekend after the two long spring holiday weekends are always filled with events in the Lake Geneva region, and 2010 was no exception. The crowds turned out again for the Geneva wines Open Day Saturday 29 May, with English-speakers taking part (Ed. note: the Tribune de Geneve carries an article about the number of expats present and interviews one who after eight years in the city speaks two words of French, which has prompted negative comments).
It is hard to calculate how many people turned out, says Denis Beausoleil, director of the Geneva cantonal wine office, but clearly it was in the thousands, and this year the weather was perfect, not too warm, and the small amount of overcrowding and drunkeness that marred a couple previous Open Days seems to have disappeared. “It was a day that reflected the vintage, the excellent 2009 wine!” says Beausoleil. The 2009 harvest is generally reckoned to be one of the best in years, and the Open Day provided consumers a chance to sample the goods.
This is the first year wine producers have tried a system where visitors pay CHF5 for their glass, but they can keep the same glass for the day. The feedback from wineries is that the system worked well.
EPFL packs in visitors
La Suisse, queen of the Belle Epoque fleet on Lake Geneva, celebrates her 100th birthday in style
Two out of the ordinary events took place that also attracted crowds. EPFL, the polytechnic institute near Lausanne, held its first open house in seven years to give the public an opportunity to visit its new Rolex Learning Center, but also to see firsthand the multitude of physical changes taking place on the campus, and to explore its growing number of programmes. The university estimates that some 25,000 people visited during the two days, Saturday and Sunday. Sixteen centres, with 1,200 staff and student volunteers explained some of EPFL’s strong points, such as its nanotechnology work, the Blue Brain project, work on robots and architecture. The open house brought to an end a week-long official inauguration for the Rolex Learning Center.
Nearby, in Lausanne, La Suisse, a beautiful old steamboat and one of the gems of the CGN Belle Epoque fleet that is the world’s largest, celebrated her 100th birthday Sunday, after a colourful Saturday in Geneva and an evening cruise up to the other end of the lake. Hundreds took advantage of the celebrations for short tours on the boat, which was dressed up in the outfit it wore its first day out in 1910: flags from all the cantons and 30 masts.
La Suisse will operate on the upper end of the lake from 13 June to 12 September, stopping at: Lausanne, Pully, Lutry, Cully, Rivaz, Vevey, Clarens, Montreux, Chillon, Villeneuve, Le Bouveret and St Gingolph.
Title: Wine and art
Location: Morges
Link out: Click here
Description: See original works by regional artists exhibited in wine cellars, and drink some wine. An interesting concept in Morges.
Date: 2010-05-31
Open days at wineries give consumers a chance to discover some of Switzerland's unusual wines, such as this rare Roussanne, a cousin of the Marsanne grape made famous by France's Hermitage wines (Christian Crittin, La Pleine Lune, St-Pierre-de-Clages, Valais)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s new wines season kicked off seriously last weekend with the fourth annual Valais wine Open Days 12-15 May, which pulled in 22,000 people to 179 cellars, say the organizers, Vins du Valais.
The crowds came despite cold, wet weather that put a damper on villages’ plans for outdoor entertainment and wines served under sunny skies.
This weekend it is the turn of canton Vaud, which has more than 300 wineries participating in its Open Days 21-22 May.
Maps of the region with details and lists of cellars are a good starting point for anyone planning to visit. Vaud’s cellars, more spread out than those in Geneva, have offered limited transport options in the past, but several groups of wine villages are organizing shuttle buses (check out regional sub-menus on the “transport” tab) this year.
Swiss Germans are expected en masse, since the bulk of wines from Vaud end up in German-speaking areas. Geneva, the third largest wine producing canton, holds its Open Days the following Saturday 29 May.
Title: Swiss wine tasting
Location: Rolle
Link out: Click here
Description: At the Salle de Chevaliers in the Chateau de Rolle. Free Swiss wine tasting.
For information: +41 21 822 0707.
Start Time: 16:00
Date: 2010-05-26 & 2010-05-27
End Time: 20:00
Title: Open wine cellars and wine festival
Location: Lake Geneva region
Link out: Click here
Description: Enjoy the wine festival and meet wine growers in the Lake Geneva region.
Start Date: 2010-05-21
End Date: 2010-05-24
Title: Wine barrel making & open wine cellars
Location: Mont-sur-Rolle
Link out: Click here
Description: Taste wine and see some serious wine barrel making à la Suisse!
Date: 2010-05-22
Title: Open wine cellars and wine festival
Location: Canton Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: More than 300 wine cellars open to the public in more than 8 wine domains around Canton Vaud.
Start Date: 2010-05-21
End Date: 2010-05-22
Title: Wine tasting and open caves
Location: Mont-sur-Rolle
Link out: Click here
Description: Open caves, wine galore and more!
For info: Caveau@vins-mont-sur-rolle.ch
Start Date: 2010-05-21
End Date: 2010-05-23
Title: Swiss White wine tasting
Location: Morges
Link out: Click here
Description: ‘Tis the season for whites to be tasted.
Start Date: 2010-05-06
End Date: 2010-05-08
Title: Arvinis wine fair, California wines
Location: Morges
Link out: Click here
Description: This year the Arvinis wine festival is showcasing California wines. Wine tasting, courses and more are planned for this 5-day festival.
Start Date: 2010-04-14
End Date: 2010-04-19
Title: Schlaraffia, wine and gourmet fair
Location: Schlaraffia
Link out: Click here
Description: The wine and gourmet fair of Eastern Switzerland.
Start Date: 2010-03-11
End Date: 2010-03-14
Elisabeth Pasquier, Francois Murisier, Vinea's director and president, 2010
Sierre, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Vinea, a Valais-based association that was created 15 years ago to showcase the wines of Switzerland’s largest wine-producing canton, has grown into a major player in the wine world, far beyond its original Valais borders. Tuesday evening the group gave itself a new structure to better place it to educate the world about Swiss wines.
The wine business accounts for 15 percent of agricultural products, about half that of Swiss dairy products, including cheese. Agriculture is 1 percent of Swiss GDP (gross domestic product) overall, well behind industry and the service sector, which includes banking. But wine remains an important part of Swiss society, especially in French-speaking areas where vineyards often dominate the landscape.
New statutes were approved for Vinea to reflect the growing number of activities and work it does outside canton Valais. One of the country’s best-known wine experts, François Murisier, was named president of the revised association, with Elisabeth Pasquier, the former managing director, named to the new post of director.
Murisier is the former head of wine grape growing and oenology at the Swiss federal centre, Agroscope Changins-Waedenswil. He is an expert with the OIV (International Organization of Vin and Wine) and president of the scientific committee of Cervim, a mountain wines organization.
Hot weather grape harvest 2009, La Colombe, Fechy
Golf-ball-sized hail 23 July, outside Ikea in Allaman, Vaud
Nyon, Switzerland (Geneva, Switzerland) – Swiss wines, vintage 2009, will be among those loved and remembered by consumers, thanks in large part to a warm, sunny and dry August that was enjoyed equally by humans and grapes. The 2009 official wine results are in, from the federal agricultural station Changins, near Nyon, and the news is good. The harvest, which began in September and for the most part ended in mid-October, was “very good”, with “exceptional” ripening conditions in August and early September. The one exception is some areas in canton Vaud’s La Côte region, hit hard by 15 minutes of hail 23 July, which wiped out some vine parcels’ (growing areas) grapes.
Grapes developed fully, with little rot occurring, thanks to dry weather in most parts of Switzerland: an “exemplary” situation where all climactic conditions came together to keep the grapes healthy.
Pinot Noir grapes, basking in the sun in early September, Valais
Two weeks of sunshine will make all the difference: Valais grapes 5 September
Geneva/Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The grape harvest of 2009 has wine producers in Switzerland smiling, even though grape picking begins in earnest in Valais, the early starter and the largest wine-producing canton, only this weekend. It has been an excellent year for growers, comparable to 2005, one of the best years on record, say growers: adequate rain at just the right times and generally dry conditions in most of the country’s grapegrowing regions, with the harvest size comparable to last year’s.
Title: Local wine and produce fair
Location: Delémont-Courtemelon
Link out: Click here
Description: The third annual contest of local wines and produce of the region.
Start Date: 26 Sep 2009
End Date: 27 Sep 2009
Title: Train ride through the land of the “grand crus”
Location: Lavaux, Cully and Lutry
Link out: Click here
Description: From April to October ride a charming tourist train on wheels and visit the Lavaux vineyards. Departure from Lutry or Cully.
Start Date: 30 Aug 2009
End Date: 01 Oct 2009
Title: Evening visit to winegrowers in the region
Location: Aran, Cully, Epesses, Grandvaux, Riex and Lutry
Link out: Click here
Description: Visit the Lavaux vineyards every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Depart from Lutry and enjoy a train ride.
Start Date: 30 Aug 2009
Start Time: 18:30
End Date: 20 Sep 2009
Title: English cheeses and Swiss wines tasting
Location: Mont-sur-Rolle, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: A day to enjoy five different kinds of English cheeses, paired with Swiss wines and local specialties.
Date: 04 Sep 2009
Title: Meeting of the Valais wine producers
Location: Sierre, Valais
Link out: Click here
Description: Over 1,200 bottles will be presented during the wine fair. For the first time, producers from other regions will participate.
Start Date: 05 Sep 2009
End Date: 06 Sep 2009
Title: A stroll along the vineyards of Morges
Location: Morges, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: A day for strolling through the vineyards in Morges, savouring local wines and dishes, and enjoying the view of Lake Geneva.
Date: 05 Sep 2009
Féchy's vineyards, Lake Geneva, French Alps
Féchy, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Wine producers in the small (population: 700) village of Féchy, above the lakeside town of Rolle, met Friday 12 June for the annual “baptism” of their Vigne du Monde, vintage 2008.
It was a remarkably charming event, held next to the landmark hillside white chapel, with the sun shining, the lake shimmering and world-class chef Fredy Girardet talking about the vintage for which he is the godfather.
New AOC rules prompting marketing efforts
A question of terroir and the winemakers' skill
Behind it lay a serious 21st century marketing push. Féchy’s wines are some of the best in the canton and their producers want to ensure that under a new AOC (appellations d’origine contrôlées) system, as many of their wines as possible win the right to the coveted premier grand cru label that will designate top regional wines. These are likely to be among the Swiss wines that are exported, extending the market, so the financial incentive for producers is significant.
This time next year, in May and June 2010, wine lovers will see the results of a major change now sweeping through the vineyards of canton Vaud (see wine buyer’s guide below).
Title: The wines of summer
Location: Morges, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: Free wine tasting at La Licorne in Morges.
Start Date: 04 Jun 2009
End Date: 06 Jun 2009
Lake Geneva region (GenevaLunch) – Hard to believe on a damp, foggy, drizzly Friday afternoon, but the weather people at MeteoSwiss promise sunshine and warmer temperatures starting Saturday morning. By Sunday temperatures should rise to 24-25C in most of the region.
Lake Geneva region – outdoors
It should be perfect weather for learning all about Geneva’s wine: the annual Open Day pulls in large crowds every year, so join the fun.
Click on image to view larger
Geneva's top wines are often red
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss carried on drinking wine in much the same way in 2008 as in 2007, consuming 2.78 million hectolitres (1 hectolitre = 100 litres or 22 gallons) of wine, roughly 36 bottles per person for the year for the permanent population of 7.7 million. But they drank less red wine from abroad, down 3 percent, and more foreign white wine, up 5.1 percent, the Swiss agriculture ministry says. Red wine continues to dominate, despite foreigners’ common perception that Switzerland is a land of white wines: 69 percent of wine consumed last year was red.
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – ‘Tis the season: to taste, to buy, to settle down for a pleasant glass of Swiss wine. The winelovers’ season will be up and running this week with the opening Wednesday 24 April of the Arvinis wine fair in Morges, which annually welcomes some 20,000 visitors. Special guests for 2009 are a group of top Beaujolais producers. The fair features 150 producers from around the world, but with a heavy emphasis on Swiss wines. It is conveniently located in the charming old wooden CFF Halle next to the Morges train station, so leave the car at home. Entry: CHF20 for a tasting glass that you carry around from one stand to the next.
Tasting Swiss wines in Geneva, Memoire des Vins Suisse, pulled in a packed house of sommeliers and others in the business
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva’s winemakers, playing host this week to some of Switzerland’s top wine producers, Thursday evening presented a series of wines that show off the good aging potential of the canton’s wines. The annual meeting of the Memoire des Vins Suisse (MDVS), being held in Geneva Friday 27 March, was accompanied the evening before by the first-ever vertical tasting session open to the public of top Swiss wines: the 30 producers who are members of the MDVS offered three versions of their best wines, from the newest to older to their oldest bottles of the same wines so people could see how the wines behave as they age.
Humagne Rouge, a Valais specialty wine, vintage 2007. Switzerland produces and consumes slightly more red than white wine.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Make room in your cellar for the 2008 vintage: officials at the Swiss Department of Agriculture say that despite early worries in September, the 2008 grape harvest was an excellent one.
Bise winds and steady sunshine during the latter part of September allowed growers to harvest a good quantity of healthy grapes, and added to the quality of the harvest, promising good wines. The federal office’s statement confirms what individual growers and wine producers have been telling GenevaLunch in recent weeks as they routinely sample the young wines. Canton Valais in December was able to state clearly that 2008 was an excellent year.
Sierre, Valais (GenevaLunch) – Vaud has surprised heavyweight Valais by taking five of the six places for nominees to the title of the country’s best Chasselas (known as Fendant in canton
Valais), the white wine for which French-speaking
Switzerland has traditionally been known.
The six wines were nominated for three medals, with the winners to be announced in November, from among 302 Chasselas wines competing. The Grand Prix du Vin Suisse competition has named 66 wines as nominees in 11 categories, among more than 1,800 entered by 435 Swiss producers. The categories class wine by grape variety and types of blends.
The top prizes are announced 7 November when the Grand Prix du Vin Suisse holds its annual gala awards evening. The largest number entered, 44% of the total, come from Valais, which is Switzerland’s largest wine-producing canton, with Vaud participation at 23%.
The competition has already announced that the two leading cantons are Valais, which has taken 151 gold medals and 155 silver ones, and Vaud, which has 42 gold and 77 silver.
The six named in the Chasselas category:
- Bérolon le Consul Perroy 2007, Cave du Consul, Perroy
- Château Maison Blanche 2007, Maison Blanche SA, Rolle
- Dézaley L’Ermite 2007, Pascal Fonjallaz-Spicher, Epesses
- Dézaley Sous-Marsens 2006, Cave la Cornalle, Philippe Rouge, Epesses
- Domaine des Faverges 2007, Domaine des Faverges, St Saphorin
- Fendant de St-Léonard 2007, Bétrisey Vins, St Léonard
The Grand Prix du Vin Suisse is organized by Vinum magazine and Vinea in Sierre, organizer of Switzerland’s largest wine festival (6-7 September), with Coop as a partner.
“My philosophy is simple: I like the world of music, and there I think global because you have to let yourself think big enough. But I drink “local,” Daniel Rossellat smiles, raising a glass of very good Chasselas from the vineyards near Paleo, the festival he founded more than 35 years ago. “I always taste the local wines. In 30 years I’ve been to pretty much every country that makes it.” He travels internationally year-round to listen to and find music groups.
Daniel Rossellat is still the boss at Paleo, which has grown from its first crowd of 1,800 to an annual sellout of 225,000 tickets for 120 concerts, and his stamp clearly marks it. But he says he is gradually making way for his successor. Or successors, for the team that is in charge has already shown their mettle, he believes, led by Jacques Monnier, who has co-responsibility for the festival’s programme. [Ed.note: see the 23 July Le Temps interview with Monnier on YouTube, about his favourite groups, at the end of this interview - in French]
Rossellat, who is known in local circles as a wine cognoscente, agreed to talk to GenevaLunch about his favourite bottles, at a hotel in Nyon where afterwards he would be glad-handing local business leaders in his role as would-be candidate for the town council in Nyon. While some people have expressed surprise at his shift from music festival man to politician, for Rossellat it’s a logical evolution. “We’re lucky to be a European model. We could be arrogant about our success but we believe we must continue to innovate. And we have to use our authority to encourage our employees and the public – and the region – to assume social responsibility.” Paleo won a Midem Green award in 2008, the latest in a string of awards for its environmental efforts.
