Swiss Wino

I never considered the effect that living in the middle of wine vineyards can have on ones drinking habits and choice of alcohol. I moved here leaning towards beer but have always enjoyed a nice glass (bottle) of red wine. Now I'm afraid I could turn into a wino.

In some of the restaurants, they recommend Italian and French wine ahead of Swiss wine. But, in all fairness, it's difficult to discern a difference in taste and the price of Swiss wine is lower.

I have already met one Cully wine producer and had a private tour of their facility. During lunch today, as I was working from home, I visited and toured another - Cave De La Cour. Click their name to visit their site. They have some nice information about Cully there as well...

It's only a 1 minute walk from my apartment. They are very friendly people. I asked 100 questions and they answered all of them. We (the owners joined in) also tested some 2005 Pinot Noir, as well as 2007 Merlot that hasn't even made it to the bottle yet. : ) Both were tres bonne!!! I learned that is takes about 5 bundles of grapes to make one bottle of Pinot Noir. The cork costs about .60 cents. The bottle is about .55 cents. Since I'm a business minded person, I was, of course, trying to figure out their business model. I like what I was seeing...

Producing the wine involves growing, taking care of, and picking the grapes. That part of the operation didn't interest me much. The actual production process seems to be a mix of creativity and science. For a stronger oak taste, they use a newer oak barrel. For less of an oak taste, the barrel is a little older. The process for red wine seems to be the same no matter the type of grape. All interesting stuff. Knowing the people who make the wine makes drinking it even more interesting... I left with 3 bottles of both the 2004 and 2005 Pinot Noir. The 2005 is the good stuff!!

This was a nice break from work but I cannot suggest wine tasting for lunch if you have serious work to get done in the afternoon. Au revoir!