Schweizer Weine

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slaton

Slaton Lipscomb
I'm in Basel this week unexpectedly on business, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I know zero about Swiss wines.

Unsurprisingly, there is a fair bit of French, Italian, and German wine here, but it's actually pricier than in the US. Particularly storied regions like Champagne, Bordeaux, etc. Although curiously, there is almost no Burgundy.

Can anyone recommend a favorite Swiss producer or region?

Thanks!
 
Gantenbein makes outstanding Pinot Noir, but it's likely to be very expensive if you come across it.

I've had good wines when in Switzerland, but have only been in the western part and not for many years, so I don't have any up-to-date recommendations. Maybe someone can post the names of the producers that Rosenthal imports (they're not on his website) or else ask in a good wine shop.

Of course, Basel is right on the border with Baden and Alsace. If you have wheels, zip off there, especially to Baden where I can give you lots of reccos.
 
Thanks guys, for the recs. Just confirmed the local shop has Massy Chemin de Fer Grand Cru in several vintages ('07, '09, '10). Will report back any impressions.

Claude, no wheels this week, but it's looking like I'll be tacking on some vacation time starting at the weekend, and a rental car could be in order. Given the lack of an agenda or past experience in the area, I'd certainly welcome any recommendations in Baden or other nearby areas of interest.

It looks like Lyon, Dijon, the golden Côte etc. aren't far, either, so it may finally be time for a 1st visit to Burgundy, the heat and nearness of vendanges notwithstanding.

Arbois, as well.
 
Below are the Swiss wines Neal imports. I have tried them all, but not recently or often enough to comment, except to say that there are some tasty wines here.

Cave Caloz (Conrad Caloz)

Cave du Vieux Moulin (Romain Papilloud)

Cave Les Ruinettes (Serge Roh)

Cave des Tilleuls (Fabienne & Marc-Henri Cottagnoud)
 
originally posted by slaton:
Thanks guys, for the recs. Just confirmed the local shop has Massy Chemin de Fer Grand Cru in several vintages ('07, '09, '10). Will report back any impressions.

Claude, no wheels this week, but it's looking like I'll be tacking on some vacation time starting at the weekend, and a rental car could be in order. Given the lack of an agenda or past experience in the area, I'd certainly welcome any recommendations in Baden or other nearby areas of interest.

It looks like Lyon, Dijon, the golden Côte etc. aren't far, either, so it may finally be time for a 1st visit to Burgundy, the heat and nearness of vendanges notwithstanding.

Arbois, as well.
Click to expand...

Baden: Bernhard Huber, Bercher, Dr. Heger, Franz Keller (very modern style, though), Salwey, Stadt Lahr/Wöhrle, Burg Ravensburg, Stigler.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:

Baden: Bernhard Huber, Bercher, Dr. Heger, Franz Keller (very modern style, though), Salwey, Stadt Lahr/Wöhrle, Burg Ravensburg, Stigler.
Click to expand...

And just a bit under 10 miles from Basel the quirky Ziereisen family, who makes quite interesting wines. This is a five generation under one roof operation that is incredibly charming.

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www.weingut-ziereisen.de

They also sell some wine from friends in other regions. Bone dry Riesling from Jochen Beurer in Wuerttemberg for example. Also Van Volxem and Molitor.
 
The Swiss even have some very interesting native grape varieties, particularly in their top wine producing canton, Valais: the red cornalin and humagne (syrah also does exceptionally well in this nascent, East-West portion of the Rhône) and the white petite arvine. On lake Geneva, they even manage to extract something interesting and ageworthy, on granite terraces, from the lowly chasselas...

Look for these Valais (Wallis in German) producers: Simon Maye et Fils, Denis Mercier, Domaine Cornulus, Claudy Clavien, René Favre et Fils, Gérard Raymond, Histoire d'Enfer (Patrick Régamey).

The top Vaud producer of chasselas (and other wines) is Raymond Paccot of Domaine de la Colombe.

The largest winery in Basel-Land, the Siebe Dupf Kellerei in Liestal, not only makes some nice wines (two summery pinot noir rosés) but is also the importer for some aristocratic names like Domaine Dujac and some much more plebeian ones like Finca Sandoval.
 
Had a taste last night of '10 Blaise Duboix 'Corniche' Dezaley (chasselas, from Vaud).
Tropical, full bodied, a bit oily. Texturslly it reminded me a bit of a big alto adige white, with aromatic tones leaning toward a musque-y sauvignon. Certainly fine enough but in the summer heat this wasn't really for me (I opted for a glass of Droin Montmains instead).
 
No mention of Beudon? I have had all of one bottle, which was imposing and impressive more than pleasurable, but it was very young. I just pulled another from storage.
 
It's been oppressively warm and alas more cold beer type of weather the last few days. But tonight we had a sudden lightning storm with heavy rain, which went perfectly with a delicious Swiss pinot noir from Valais.

This was the Domaine de la Muraz from 2010. Really tasty alpine pinot noir, quite dry with ripe fruit at the center and lots of lovely alpine herbal character. Certainly in the soft tannins, ready to drink category, but plenty of character here and a great value. I would buy this in the US at $25-$30.
 
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