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Swiss
wines
part 5
Tasting
latest releases of the Memoire du Vins Suisses wines, 20 January
2006
As
I mentioned earlier in this series, the Mémoire des Vins Suisses (MDVS)
is a group of 25 of Switzerland’s top wine producers who have chosen
to collaborate in organized tastings each year, where along with
current releases, a museum stock of older vintages (the mémoire) will
be built up and tasted critically.
On
the Saturday morning Sam Harrop and I visited Domaine Louis Bovard
while the Mémoire organization were holding their Annual General
Meeting. Later we joined them for a tasting of the current releases of
the 25
wines that had been presented at the previous day's tasting (see
here), one from each producer. The wines showed pretty well, even
considering the competition from the slightly smoky open fire that was
burning in the spectacular old farmhouse room we were tasting in
(below). As you'll see from the scores (which, as ever, should not be
taken too seriously) there was a remarkably consistent high
standard to all the wines, with some really shining. Swiss wines are
definitely underappreciated outside Switzerland.
Raymond
Paccot Vigne En Bayel 2004 Féchy
Bright, fruity and full with nice freshness to the melon-tinged
fruit. Quite broad, but good freshness too. Fruity. Very good+ 88/100
Domaine Louis Bovard Dézaley Médinette 2003 Dézaley
Lovely fat palate with nice balancing acidity. Broad and full with
nice weight. Very good/excellent 91/100
Château d’Auvernier Chardonnay Barrique 2004 Neuchâtel
Nice fresh herbiness here: rich and full with nice oak, balanced
well by acidity. Fresh and full. Very good/excellent 90/100
Château Lichten Petite Arvine 2003 Valais
Stinky herby nose which is a little reductive but very appealing.
Powerful, rich palate is lovely and fruity with a nice herby edge. Rich
fruit. Very good/excellent 91/100
Philippoz Frères Ermitage Leytron Barrique 2003 Valais
Deep coloured. Lovely
fat, full sweetly herby, melony, peachy fruit with some fatness, but
it’s not over-the-top. Delicious fruit. Very good/excellent 90/100
Provins Valais Vieilles Vignes Maître de Chais 2003 Valais
Deep coloured. Pungent
herb-tinged nose with a rich, fat, subtly herbal edge. The palate is
full and fat with good acidity. A forward, full wine with some oak.
Very good+ 88/100
Denis Mercier Cornalin 2003 Valais
Vivid pure red fruits nose. The palate is vividly fruited with
lovely, savoury, tangy fruit. A delicious fresh red. Very
good/excellent 90/100
Henri Cruchon Raissennaz 2003 Morges
Quite full chalky red fruits herewith good spicy structure. Quite
savoury. Nice fruit. Very good+ 87/100
Andreas Meier Kloster Sion Pinot Noir Klingnau Réserve Barrique
2003 Klingnau
Very attractive spicy, supple fruit with some herbiness. A nice
wine. Very good+ 89/100
Pircher Eglisauer Stadtberger Blauburgunder Barrique 2003
Nice bright cherry and berry fruit. Good acidity and some grippy
structure. Very good+ 88/100
Baumann Pinot Noir ‘R’ 2003 Oberhallau
Nice rich ripe fruit with some chocolatey oak notes. Nicely
structured with good freshness to the ripe fruit. Very good+ 89/100
Hans Ulrich Kesselring Bactobel Pinot Noir No 3 Der Andere 2003
Good weight: lovely fruit with nice structure and some elegance. A
delicious, well proportioned wine. Very good/excellent 90/100
Georg Fromm Malanser Pinot Noir Barrique 2003
Open sweet red fruits nose leads to a supple palate with open
fruit. Expressive with some undergrowthy notes. A light, attractive
style. Very good/excellent 90/100
Von Tacarner Schloss Reichenau Churer Blauburgunder Barrique Gian
Battista 2002
Ripe open bright berry fruit nose is quite sweet. The palate is
open and sweet with a herby edge. Delicious and expressive. Very
good/excellent 92/100
Gialdi Sassi Grossi 2002 Ticino
Big, spicy roast coffee oak edge to the nose. The palate shows
lovely fresh vivid fruit with an earthy edge. Nice but a bit oaky.
Very good+ 88/100
Daniel Huber Montana Magica 2002 Ticino
Lovely vivid fresh fruit here with a nice spicy strcucture. Vivid,
full and savoury. Delicious, but perhaps a little too extracted? Very
good+ 89/100
Adriano Kaufmann Pio della Rocca 2002 VDT della Svizerra Italiana
Some oak evident. Vivid and quite spicy on the nose. The palate is
full, dense and spicy with good concentration. Nice acid and a savoury
finish. A big, burly style. Very good+ 88/100
Christian Zündel Orrizonte 2003 VDT della Svizerra Italiana
Lots of rich fruit here, with good structure and lots of power. A
nice fruity wine. Very good+ 89/100
Jean-Pierre Pellegrin Grand’Cour 2002 Peissy
Very open sweet, pure fruity nose. Quite jammy with pure sweet blackcurrant fruit on the
palate. A charming open style. Very good+ 89/100
Hammel
Domaine du Crochet Cuvée Charles Auguste 2002 Mont-sur-Rolle
Lovely structure: a classic Bordeaux style with good acid,
concentrated well-defined fruit and nice bright structure. Very
good/excellent 92/100
Cayas Syrah du Valais 2002 Valais
Refined fruity nose with cherry and blackcurrant, together with
some meatiness. The palate shows good weight of mainly red fruits.
Fresh with a spicy structure and some peppery meatiness. A nicely
defined wine. Very good/excellent 91/100
Simon Maye & Fils Syrah Chamoson Vieilles Vignes 2003 Valais
Dark, vividly fruited nose is quite fresh. The palate shows a
great weight of fresh, spicy, savoury fruit. Nice peppery savouriness
and good freshness, together with good acidity. A brilliant Northern Rhône-styled
Syrah. Very good/excellent 93/100
After
the tasting, we had a presentation from an affineur (above),
showing his cheeses, including a remarkable 36 month old cave-aged
Gruyere. We then dined very well on Saucisse aux chouk Vaudoisse.
See also:
Wines tasted 01/06
Find
these wines with wine-searcher.com
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