Swiss Wines

I had the privilege of tasting wines from Switzerland last week.  Little is known about the wines from this region because they are, for the most part, not exported from their region.  In fact only about 1% makes it out of their borders and that 1 percent almost never sees the shores of the US (the Swiss want their wines all to themselves), or do they?  Could be that part of the problem is the expense of getting their wines here along with the red tape involved.  Whatever the reason it would be a wonderful thing to add Swiss wines to our repertoire of everyday drinking wines.  Switzerland is a tiny region surrounded by four major wine producing countries; France, Germany, Italy, and Austria, which makes for an interesting mix of wine styles.  The wines I tasted were from the French side (located in western Switzerland) which includes the appellations of Valais and Vaud.  The predominant grape varieties from here are Chasselas (white), Gamay (red), and Pinto Noir (red).  All of the wines I had showed wonderful, subdued elegant fruitiness, no fruit bombs here (subdued is what you would expect from a cold climate region like Switzerland).  The Chasselas had floral and citrus fruit aromas, very light in body with a fruity mixture that enveloped the palate.  The Gamay and Pinot Noir were both earthy, first evidenced on the nose then on the palate.  Both had subdued, elegant red berry flavors….raspberries, cherries, with Gamay’s fruitiness being more prevalent when compared to Pinot Noir.   I’m not writing about these wines to tease you, I’m writing about them so that there can be an awareness that they exist, and also bring awareness to a world of wine you may not have experiences yet and want to seek out, kind of like visiting that place you’ve always wanted to experience before time slips by.  I admit that there is nothing complex about these wines.  I take that back, true they are not Bordeaux, but they do have a complexing elegance worth seeking out.  Upon first sip they will create a lasting memory, not because of the wine industry’s definition of complexity, but because of their uniqueness and trueness of terroir…..an experience you’ll always remember. 

enjoy