jamie goode's wine blog: A wonderful Swiss white

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A wonderful Swiss white

Humagne Rouge, Humagne Blanche, Heida, Petit Arvine, Cornalin, Amigne, Lafenetscha and Resi. These are all wonderful old Swiss grape varieties from the canton of Valais, and the chances are you've never heard of them, let alone tasted them. In conjunction with Swiss wine writer Chandra Kurt (who I've spent time with in Portugal, Austria and London), Provins Valais are releasing a series of wines based on these varieties.

They're titled 'Collection Chandra Kurt', and this Heida is my first look at them. It's a brilliant wine, and Chandra should be pleased to be associated with this. I've tasted a reasonable number of Swiss wines before (see here), and I like them a good deal. I'd really like to try the Cornalin and Humagne Rouge from this series.

Provins Valais Heida Collection Chandra Kurt 2008 Valais, Switzerland
The Heida grape variety is also known as Savagnin or Paien, and it's one of the mountain varieties. Here, at 1150 m it has still attained a heady alcohol level of 14%. This is a beautiful wine. The nose is fresh and minerally, with apricot, nectarine and melon fruit adding richness. The palate is fresh yet beautifully textured, with a smoky, minerally edge to the pure, crisp yet generous fruit. It's full flavoured and focused with potential for further development. Very pure. 91/100

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8 Comments:

At 11:08 AM, Anonymous Michael B said...

Sounds very interesting. Available in the UK? Any idea of price?

 
At 1:26 PM, Blogger GregNBaker said...

I was lucky enough to be in the Valais last week and dropped in on Provins Valais...some lovely wines not just from the Sion area but further afield. Well worth a visit!

 
At 2:11 PM, Anonymous Wink Lorch said...

It's great that the huge Provins co-op has teamed up with Chandra Kurt. And wonderful to see these obscure grape varieties.

This wine must come from Switzerland's highest vineyards in Visperterminen (near Zermatt/Saas Fee) one of only a couple of places growing Heida in Valais. They always claim these are the highest vineyards in Europe, but they are not (Aosta Valley has higher ones, and also now Sierra Nevada north of Granada in Spain), but they are still dramatic and high, and my experience of the wines are that they are really intense (and nothing like Savagnin from Jura, even the non-oxidative ones).

I'm going to look out for these next time I visit a wine shop in Geneva.

 
At 8:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Sierra de la Contraviesa vineyards have been there a long time, Wink - some of the vines at Barranco Oscuro are over 100 years old!

 
At 6:33 AM, Blogger billn said...

Some more info on Heida for you Jamie - a wine often in the fridge chez nous...
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/search/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=st&sid=10878295

 
At 9:57 AM, Anonymous Franschhoek Accommodation said...

I would also like to know the price and if it is available online. Thanx

 
At 4:32 PM, Blogger billn said...

Prices are 15-30 swiss francs - I've seen the best part of a dozen labels - so £8-£18 on home turf...

 
At 9:49 PM, Blogger chandra said...

The price is of 19.90 Swiss Francs (£11.50) and you can order the wines via www.provins.ch or by writing me an e-mail chandra@chandrakurt.com.

 

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