Grape wine harvest in Satigny, canton Geneva
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss wine producers have enjoyed the fruits of three excellent harvests in a row, with 2011 promising to make it four, but this doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell wine at a fair price, some argue.
A group of 15 Geneva wine producers have banded together to start a Swiss national popular initiative that would protect some agricultural products against the open market. They say the move is necessary since the Cassis de Dijon principle went into effect in 2009, allowing European Union wines free entry into Switzerland through bilateral agreements.
Swiss wines, which have a good reputation in international wine circles, are competitive price-wise with European wines of comparable quality, but they have trouble competing against the lower end of the market—the very low-cost mass-produced wines from huge estates that are worked by machine.
Hardest hit may be producers in border regions such as Geneva, where cheap wines from Italy and southern France can be brought in inexpensively.
The widespread notion that the Swiss drink all their own wine and have none left for export is gradually being debunked, as tiny holdings give way to producers of a size capable of export and top quality producers find niches abroad. But the home market remains crucial for most producers, many of whom sell only through small outlets to avoid pressure from supermarket chains on their small profit margins.
Protectionism versus EU bilateral agreement
The Geneva grower-producers, under the leadership of Willy Cretegny, have filed an initiative: “”Pour une économie utile à tous”. It is backed by two key Geneva wine groups, the Association genevoise des vignerons encaveurs and the Inter-profession des vins de Genève. It calls for the Swiss Confederation to:
- legislate against unfair competition and dumping
- legislate to protect Swiss products through customs duties
- limit the quantity of products that can be imported
- oblige imported products to meet the same social, environmental and production standards that Swiss producers must meet.
The initiative also calls for the federal government to take steps to prevent players who dominate the market from “abusive price-setting” practices and to fight the negative economic and social implications of price wars.
They have until the end of 2013 to collect 100, 000 signatures to put their initiative to the vote, with the entire process taking about five years.
Cantonal oenologist Alexander de Montmollin may be the wine expert, but Geneva's boar, in front of him, gets the attention, with the top award named "Sanglier"
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The news was already out of the bag that 2010 will be a great vintage for wines in Switzerland but now the best producers of a great vintage are also known.
The new crop of recently bottled 2010 wines as well as 2009 wines that have been maturing (and some older vintages that have been aging) have been judged in cantons Geneva and Vaud. The winners, announced at what are known as the official “Selections” 16 and 17 June, will represent the cantons and thus the region in international competitions.
Geneva this year shows off several prize-winning young producers who are anchoring the dramatic improvement in the canton’s wines in recent years. Wines from the canton won 21 gold medals in the past 10 years at the important Vinalies competition in Paris alone, and several more gold medals at other top international events.
Geneva judges try new method for noting competing wines
The 2011 Geneva Selection used a new approach to judging and while it may be too early to tell the impact, the participating judges told cantonal agricultural office authorities afterwards they were pleased with the change.
Judges at wine competitions usually work in small groups at tables where they are tasting and noting the same wine at the same time, which invariably leads to some individuals or the group influencing judges’ ratings, even though the tables of judges do not normally discuss the wines. Geneva this year had all of the judges tasting their wines independently, making any discussion impossible, since no one judge knew what wine another was tasting.
Top prize Sanglier goes to Dardagny sweet Pinot Gris
In a class of its own: Dardagny sweet late harvest wine from Les Hutins takes the 2011 top Geneva prize
Geneva handed out prizes to its award-winning producers at the Hotel de Ville 16 June, where the wines were available for tasting, along with Geneva specialties from the traditional sanglier or boar that acts as a mascot. The coveted top prize for the wine with the highest overall rating, called the Sanglier, this year went to Domaine Les Hutins in Dardagny, for the father-daughter team’s late-harvest sweet wine, a Pinot Gris 2008.
The number of wines presented at the Geneva Selection has grown steadily, from 280 in 2000 to 654 in 2011, with 51 judges this year.
Geneva is Switzerland’s third-largest wine-producing canton, after Valais and Vaud.
Vaud names top three wines in six categories
Vaud will hand out prizes to its award winners at the Gstaad Open tennis tournament in July. Some 1,070 wines were entered in the competition and given notes by 80 judges over three days. Awards were given to 330 wines, 148 of them gold and 182 silver, in six categories. Chasselas, the canton’s standard bearer, had 135 winners, or more than one-third of the prize wines.
Complete list of Geneva award-winning wines (Vaud to follow Monday evening)
Top Sotheby's watch 15 May was a nearly 50-yer-old Patek Philippe
CHF1.15 million for the most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction, by Christies (source: Christies Ltd)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – This is a week where spending your spare millions will be very easy in Geneva, the week when auctions are offering rare watches, an extraordinary emerald tiara and a bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild, vintage 1887, Pauillac, 1er cru classé that would make grandfather sit up in his grave and ask for a glass.
Christies and Sotheby’s are outdoing themselves during the usual mid-May Geneva sales week. Sotheby’s, not too long before the British royal wedding when minds were on crowns and other state jewels, sent around a photo of the rare tiara that will be offered for sale Tuesday evening 17 May.
Most expensive auction Rolex goes for CHF1.04 million
But the week of rarefied goods began with Sotheby’s and Christies’s Important Watches sales
When the gavel went down Sunday evening 15 May on the final item at Sotheby’s, the firm could claim CHF7.75 million in sales, with a Patek Philippe watch alone going for CHF722,500. The 1960 watch, sold in 1962, belonged to a “distinguished gentleman” and is described as: “an extremely rare 18K yellow gold perpetual calendar, chronograph wristwatch with registers moon-phases and tachometer scale.”
The second most costly watch was just over CHF300,000, a 2007 Greubel Forsay watch.
They were overshadowed by the sale nearby at the Christies auction of a Rolex watch that set a new world record price for any Rolex wristwatch ever sold at auction, a “legendary, ultra-rare, split-seconds chronograph reference 4113″, sold for CHF1.035 million ($1.16m).
Discover the wine trail of La Cote in canton Vaud during a four-hour guided hike.
Location: Allaman, Vaud
Link out: http://www.asgip.ch./?id=27&news=216&…
Date: 30 Apr 2011
View of Lake Geneva, distant jet d'eau, from Signal de Bougy 20 October 2010
Wineries, autumn colours, Leman Expat Fair, marathon are Lausanne area highlights
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – October 2010 has given us chilly hands, so this weekend put on your gloves, don’t forget your umbrella and head outdoors to see the wonderful autumn colour displays.
Expect temperatures up to 13C Friday with sunshine, slightly cooler Saturday with some rain and a high of 9C Sunday, with sun and showers at the eastern end of the lake. In canton Valais, expect temperatures ranging from freezing to 17C during the day at the start of the weekend.
The unstable weather is great for photography, so put your camera in your pocket. If you want to see where it’s been raining in the past half hour, Meteoswiss has a map that shows you.
Sugar-beet harvest in Pizy, canton Vaud, next to Signal de Bougy, with Lausanne in distance
Parents or anyone with visiting relatives should consider a walk, playground time and lunch at Signal de Bougy (7/7 from 09:00-22:00) near Rolle/Aubonne, where summer crowds are gone, but the view of Lake Geneva is arguably one of the most beautiful in the region. It’s a 20-minute drive from the centre of Lausanne, 35-40 from Geneva: autoroute exit Aubonne, next to Ikea.
The restaurant, bakery and shop close after Sunday 7 November, until February 2011. The park, owned and run by Migros, offers families 31 October Halloween festivities and costume parade for children, which are free.
Grape variety growing rapidly in international popularity; Swiss Pinot Noirs among best
Gérald Carrupt, canton Vaud, judge at the Mondial du Pinot Noir in Sierre
Sierre, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The World Champion Pinot Noir producer is a Graubuenden winery, Weingut Donatsch Malans, for its Donatsch Pinot Noir Passion.
The award, announced 2 September by the Mondial du Pinot Noir international wine competition, is given to the winery that for three successive vintages has received the highest score at the Mondial (best average and consistent style).
It draws attention to the best terroirs, but also to the oenologist’s know-how and skill in continually producing top wines, and to the wine’s ability to age well.
The Mondial, which took place in Sierre in early August 2010, had 1,134 wines entered this year, from 21 countries. Pinot Noir reds, blanc de noirs and rosé wines are the main entries, but Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, cousin varieties, also compete separately. Six percent, or 71 wines were awarded gold and 260 wines, 23 percent were given silver.
Swiss wines carried away the largest number of gold awards, 56, followed by Germany with 10, Austria with 3. Australia and Bulgaria each had one gold winner. Switzerland entered more wines than other countries, but its strong performance has much to do with the fact that Pinot Noir is the most widely-grown grape in the country, outpacing even Chasselas, the white wine for which Switzerland is often known.
Judges at the Mondial du Pinot Noir mark the wines via computer, with tables screened to reduce distractions but also to keep notes private
Yann Juban from France, a judge and also deputy director of the Paris-based OIV (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin), which oversees the competition, told GenevaLunch that one of Switzerland’s real strengths as a wine-producing country is its Pinot Noirs.
The grape, which is delicate and a challenge to vinify well, grows in virtually every grape-growing canton.
Pinot Noir growing in popularity, internationally
The competition is growing in importance as the popularity of Pinot Noir rises: Sébastien Gavillet is a wine consultant from Las Vegas who was one of the Mondial du Pinot Noir judges.
Vines blossoming in Aubonne 20 May
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather is finally starting to warm up, and if you’re not yet checking our new five-day forecasts from the national weather service, you can find them on our new weather page. This is the big Open Days for wines in Vaud: don’t miss our guide and suggestions for wineries to visit.
And if wine is not what you’re after, there is plenty more to do, so check our very popular events listings, the editors’ picks! Enjoy the sun.
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
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss drank more French champagne and more bottled wine from Italy, and especially more imported red wine in 2009, a year where the global economic crisis appears to have had a curious impact on wine consumption in the country. Imports rose by 3.4 percent in 2009, after falling in 2008, with Italy remaining the largest exporter to Switzerland, accounting for 37 percent of imported wine. Bulk white wines, imported mainly from Italy but bottled in Switzerland, fell by 5.4 percent while bottled white wine from the southern neighbour rose by 5.9 percent, indicating a shift in consumer habits, with growing interest in domain wines from abroad.
Consumption rose more slowly than imports, with stocks increasing.
New world wines lag well behind European imports, with France in second place, 23 percent, and Spain in third, 20 percent of imports. France is the leader in value terms, with 36 percent of the import market, thanks to the price of champagne. Imports from Germany and Chile were up strongly, while South African wine imports fell.
Total wine consumption in Switzerland slipped by 0.9 percent to 2.8 million hectolitres, with a fall in Swiss wine consumption, down by 49,030 hectolitres, playing a key role. A hectolitre equals 100 litres and is used to measure wine consumption in Europe.
Swiss German wine consumption rose, while French-speaking Switzerland’s wines slipped on the home market, the opposite of the situation in 2008.
Arvinis welcomes American wines for the wine fair’s 15th year
Wine fair offers easy way to discover Swiss wines
Napa Valley, California vineyards, October 2009 (click to view larger)
Morges, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Morges is offering a fine pair of anniversary bouquets starting Wednesday 14 April. The first tulips are opening at the lakeside park which is home to the annual Tulip Festival, and the popular wine fair Arvinis opens its doors. This is the 40th anniversary of the Tulip Festival, which runs from 2 April to 16 May, and the 15th anniversary of Arvinis, which is the largest wine fair in the Lake Geneva region. It offers visitors some 2,500 wines to sample during its six-day run.
Arvinis serves as a harbinger of spring, with wine villages throughout the country holding their open houses in the weeks that follow. The guest of honour for 2010 is the California Wine Institute.
Title: Creating a new grape variety
Location: Domaine de Montbenay
Link out: Click here
Description: For more information on this course, which also includes a guided visit, call +41 79 363 4859. Open to all, those under 16 are free.
Date: 2010-04-29
Spring open houses and wine courses good starting point
learning about wine
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Warmer weather will soon be upon us, and among the pleasures Spring brings to Switzerland is the start of the wine-tasting season, with individual cellars and villages holding open house days. These are a popular Swiss tradition that allow consumers to sample and compare wines, but alcohol abuse, a growing problem among young people, is starting to make an appearance. “With young people, we’re losing some of the understanding of the larger culture that has always been part of wine-drinking,” says Jean Hutin of Domaine Les Hutins in Dardagny, canton Geneva.
Title: Lecture (Fre): birthplace of Chasselas
Location: Mont-sur-Rolle wine museum
Link out: Click here
Description: José Vouillamoz of the Uni. of Neuchatel\’s national research centre for plant survival on where Chasselas, the grape for which Switzerland is widely known, comes from, based on genetic studies of over 100 plants in Europe and Middle East. CHF15
Start Time: 20:00
Date: 2010-03-10
Title: Swiss Expo
Location: Lausanne, Beaulieu
Link out: Click here
Description: Free entry for foreigners! Largest agricultural fair in the region, hugely popular, with regional products including wines, on offer to sample. This year’s feature: parade of cows.
Start Date: 2010-01-14
End Date: 2010-01-17
A glass a day: closer to understanding the secret of red wine's benefits
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – The secret behind the reputed healthful effects of moderate quantities of red wine have been a hot research topic for more than 20 years. French researchers at Inserm national research institute in Angers say they have now found the molecular mechanism that links known benefits, in reducing cardiovascular risk, of the polyphenols found in wine and naturally-occurring estrogen in pre-menopause women. Their work “provides evidence that red wine polyphenols, especially delphinidin, exert their endothelial benefits via ERα [alpha isoform of estrogen receptor] activation.” The finding is, they believe, a “major breakthrough, bringing new insights of the potential therapeutic of polyphenols against cardiovascular pathologies.”
Valais grapes nearly ready for harvest, September 2009
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first analyses of the 2009 Swiss wine vintage, in November, showed them to be very promising, but the federal agriculture department’s end of the year gift to the wine business 31 December was its confirmation that 2009 was not just very good, but excellent: one for the records in terms of both quality and quantity.
The quality of 2009 Swiss wines deemed “excellent”
The growing season came close to perfection for most producers. A long, cold, snowy winter was followed by an April that brought the vines to life quickly. The summer was hot and dry, starting in June, which led to quick flowering in most wine regions. July was humid, followed by a dry spell that allowed the grapes to mature well. And it remained warm and dry throughout the harvest period, to growers’ delight.
Switzerland produces more red than white wine, including some of the world's top Pinot Noirs. Here, one at the Mondial du Pinot Noir competition.
The only problem was a patch of golf-ball size hail that hit some areas in July, notably around Bougy and Aubonne. But Raymond Paccot, one of that area’s top growers, told GenevaLunch today that even for those hit by hail it was an exceptional year. About 50 percent of his grapes in the Bougy-Villars hillside were lost and 20-30 percent around Féchy, but “it didn’t matter in the end because the rest of the season was so good that we were able to make up for it.”
Grape-growing regions harvested 1.1 million hectolitres (1,000 litres, a common unit of wine production measure) of wine grapes, some 35,000 more than in 2008. The growing area remained stable, with 14,841 hectares of vines.
Switzerland’s four largest wine-producing regions in 2009, with over 100,000 hectares of vines:
Canton, growing area in hectares / wine produced (hectolitres)
- Valais, 509,234.38ha / 449,733.54hl
- Vaud, 381,861.48ha / 290,500.91hl
- Geneva, 129,213.00ha / 94,098.53hl
- Ticino, 103,982.90ha / 58,987.09hl
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.
Roger Burgdorfer, Domaine du Paradis, Satigny/Geneva: one of Geneva's wine producers with vines over the border
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva AOC wines can now move back, in 2010, to what many of them traditionally were: wines that resulted from the marriage of grapes from Geneva, Switzerland and the part of France that sits just over the border.
The “mixed committee” charged, under the European Union and Switzerland agricultural agreement of 1999, with settling niggling agricultural details such as this, ruled 19 November that Geneva AOC wines could be made in part with grapes from clearly defined border areas. The judicial authority of the EU 9 December approved the decision.
Geneva’s winemakers have, for centuries, made wines from grapes that grow in an area which shares a common micro-climate or, in winemaking terms, grapes from a single region. Politics intervened, national boundaries were drawn, but winemakers continued to ignore the lines in order to make wine that made geographical sense: same soil, slopes, weather.
Vinea 2009, Swiss wines take over main street of Sierre, Switzerland (photo: ©2009 www.photo-genic.ch)
Vinea wine fair 2008
Lausanne / Sierre, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Vaud’s wine group Domaines Clos & Châteaux will be one of the guests of honour at Vinea, Switzerland’s main fair for Swiss wines, which opens to the public Saturday morning at 10:00, outdoors in Sierre. MeteoSwiss is predicting that Friday’s rain will turn to sunny skies during the day Saturday, with temperatures around 15-18C (take a jacket).
The fair, traditionally focused on Valais wines, is extending its reach to include other Swiss winemakers as part of the main offering this year, with two guests of honour: the second is wines from Burgundy’s Cortons hills in France.
The wine fair draws some 10,000 winelovers from Switzerland and neighbouring countries each year, thanks to an easy system for sampling the 1,200 wines and talking to the 110 winemakers presenting. The main street of Sierre is taken over by white tents organized in a line that replicates the Rhone River’s wine-producing villages in Valais, and visitors pay CHF30 for a tasting glass they use to sample as many wines as they like.
Friday the fair opens formally with the awards ceremony for the international wine competition, the Mondial du Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir: a subtle, elegant wine
Sierre, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A wine from Spain and another from Valais are the big winners at the annual Mondial du Pinot Noir wine competition, the world’s only top-level competition for wines made from this widespread grape, held in Sierre. “Cortijo los aguillares”, a Pinot Noir from Ronda, Spain, from the domain of Jose Antonio Itarte and “Malvoisie Flétrie sur Souche”, a Pinot Gris sweet wine made from grapes withered on the vine, from Cave de la Madeleine (André Fontannaz, Vétroz, Valais) were both awarded the Grande Médaille d’Or.
World Champion of Pinot Noir Producers
A new award, World Champion of Pinot Noir Producers, went to a Zurich, Switzerland producer, Urs Pircher from Eglisau, Zurich. The new award is designed to recognize the best producer who, over three consecutive vintages, has continued to make top-quality wine.
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: 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
Title: Wine and chocolate: a family affair
Location: Romainmôtier, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: A group of nine Côtes-de-l’Orbes wine producers are presenting their wines at the Caveau de Romainmôtier, along with chocolates from Pascale Philippe’s chocolate shop Passionnément Chocolat in Yverdon-les-Bains.
What’s really special about this is that you can bring the whole family. This wine tasting doesn’t have to be an all-adult affair. The Formule jeune lets under-18ers taste four different chocolates and two different artisanal juices from the region for CHF6.
Start Date: 18 Jul 2009
End Date: 30 Sep 2009
Charles Bonvin & Fils in Sion celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008
Sierre, Valais, Switzerland (Le Nouvelliste, Fre) – Rouvinez, Sierre-based winery, will buy Charles Bonvin & Fils, including 20 hectares of vineyard, to become the largest private wine company in Valais. Valais is Switzerland’s largest wine-producing canton, with 40 percent of the country’s wine: 45 million litres in 2008. The sale, reportedly for some CHF10 million, will keep the oldest wine cellar in Valais in local hands.
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
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Fabio Masi, sommelier at the Il Lago restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva has been named Italy’s best sommelier of 2009. He will participate in the Best Sommelier in the World competition in Santiago, Chile in April 2010.
The competition involved recognizing a large number of wines in blind tastings, but also naming in blind tastings 10 brandies and two coffees and recogniziing a variety of cigars. Possibly even more challenging was the service test where he was required to wait on three tables of difficult customers.
Title: Geneva wine cellars open house
Location: Canton Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Over thirty-five wine cellars in Canton Geneva open their doors for a day of wine tasting, food and other surprises.
Date: 16 May 2009
A group of 15 top winemakers from nearby Beaujolais in France are the guests of honour at the Arvinis wine fair in Morges, Vaud (22-27 April). GenevaLunch paid a visit to two of the producers, part of this group that was recently organized to raise awareness of the best of Beaujolais.
We looked at the close ties between the Lake Geneva region and the vine-covered hillsides south of Macon. We learned why, with reason, these wines are being praised.
Plenty of good food and wine in Beaujolais
(Ed. note: click on images to view larger)
Hold a glass of good beaujolais up to the light and you’ll see why winemakers talk about the charm of its colour, a rich ruby that inspires good cheer. To the nose it is fruity, in the best winemaking sense of the word – not sweet but filled with notes of just-picked summer fruits, cherries, strawberries and raspberries or plums and apricots, as well as irises. Drink it with friends over an informal, comfortable meal – with a homemade terrine and chicken in cream sauce – in a local bistro or auberge. The talk flows and the food is good, and you suddenly understand what beaujolais is all about and why it has remained popular for decades.
“It’s a modern wine,” says producer Dominque Piron of Domaine Piron, “not woody, not sweet, not difficult to drink.” The alcohol content is generally low, a bonus in this age of wines that are too often high in alcohol content because of warmer climates, making them poor companions for meals. “But there’s this paradox, in that we’re a little bit medieval in our approach to the vines,” he smiles.
Morgon, Beaujolais, a land of hills
No wonder. With more than half of the slopes at 20+ percent gradients, and one of the world’s highest density plantings at 9-10,000 plants per hectare, the use of machines is limited and grapes are handpicked. In this, the region resembles much of Swiss grapegrowing country.
There are in fact close ties between growers in Beaujolais and Geneva, Vaud and parts of Valais. On opening night of Arvinis I started to greet Claude Geoffray of Château Thivin, who had welcomed me a few days earlier and shown me around his vineyards. But he was deep in conversation with Raymond Paccot, one of Switzerland’s most respected wine producers, from Féchy, about new pruning methods Geoffray was adopting on Paccot’s advice.
Geoffray’s son took his degree in viticulture at Changins, near Nyon in Switzerland, married a woman from Valais, then joined the family domain in Beaujolais.
Dominique Piron had just decided to forego a trip to Crans-Montana in Valais, Switzerland to see friends, share a meal and sample wines; his wife, American oenologist Kristine Mary, was returning from a family visit to the US. Asked about close ties to Swiss winemakers he agreed, “we’re like cousins.”
