Asparagus, awe, Beaujolais, brain, gin
Bojo: a brief fling with its charm, from Beaujolais Nouveau to classy organic Morgan
There’s a secret to drinking moderately
If you want balance, start with awe
To have or not to have, a glass of wine in hand
Zero alcohol drinks, dry January, abstinence. The Economist recently reported on a dramatic fall in France’s wine consumption, nom de bleu ! The New York Times tried to explain why seniors have a booze problem while Fine Wine, bucking the trend, praised the ancient art of solo drinking.
Today, the World Health Association says no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health, although there’s a whisper of salvation for happy drinkers from the US Center for Disease Control which offers guidelines for moderate consumption.
Meanwhile, in Geneva (Switzerland), there’s happy local news from the police department: in 2023 the number of serious accidents caused by drivers who were over the alcohol limit fell by more than 10%. Unfortunately for road safety, and the police don’t attempt to make a link, the number of speeders rose significantly.
What’s a wine writer to do? How is a drinker of wines to make sense of all this?
Article in full on Medium, There's a secret to drinking moderately
Beaujolais is beautiful, again
Beaujolais is a place and a wine, it is lovely to see and easy to drink—wait, it’s more complicated than that! A two-day stopover to update notions about this area, a short drive from Geneva, where organic winemaking is slowly but steadily helping the region overcome the negative fallout from the once immensely popular Beaujolais Nouveau marketing drive. Putting the beau back in Beaujolais, article in full on Medium.
Wine pick, France: Marcel Lapierre, Beaujolais MMXXII
This 2022 was my favourite Beaujolais from a March visit to Fleurie and Villié-Morgon. The wine is deep and rich, the Beaujolais/Burgundy profile that is typical of a Morgon AOC Beaujolais—yet more complex than most. Its identity as a fruity Gamay remains strong, with luscious red fruits. The MMXIX, as in 2019, was equally beautiful, gaining depth over time.
Marcel Lapierre was something of a guru in the world of French organic wines, insisting that no chemicals were needed in the vineyard at a time when the agro-chemicals industry was booming. After his death in 2010 his children took over and the tradition of excellence in the family wines continues. See Beaujolais is beautiful, above, for more on the winery and the family. The emphasis on working closely with laboratories to ensure that the wine is exceptionally “clean” pays off, with none of the funky notes sometimes associated with natural wines. These are palate pleasers, all of them. If you want to go deeper than the Beaujolais Nouveau concept of very young wines, this is the way to go.
Wine pick, Switzerland: Mont d’Or, Siccus 2023
‘Tis the season for asparagus and one of the finest wines to accompany it is Siccus, a Johannesburg from Mont d’Or near Sion, Valais. Grape variety: Sylvaner. Dry, fruity, crisp, lively, a gem - this one has just been bottled, so it’s still quite young and will improve over coming months, perfect with summer barbecues. Previous vintages have won many top wine awards, including gold at key competitions in Paris and Zurich. The new vintage is on sale until 23 April, online. Also see the winery’s outdoor art exhibit under events, below. And it’s a wonderful area for hiking.
Looking for wineries that are also top sellers of fine asparagus? Try Duval in Sierre, Valais, which this weekend held the grand opening of its new shop (see below, News & events), and Wugu, Wein & Gemüse Umbricht in Untersiggenthal, which is holding a wine tasting and asparagus festival the first week of May.
Here & there
Plastics learning curve: 16,000 chemicals now recorded in plastics, up from 13,000. Lawless gin gets sharper fingerprints. The Nocebo Effect and what our negative expectations can do to our health. What your brain does when you’re not doing anything. Details in the 19 April Compendium published on Medium (free subscription)
News, events
Colline de Daval winery in Sierre, winner of wine tourism awards, had the grand opening of its new shop Saturday 20 April. They make not only very good wine but spirits from their own fruit and they are famous for their asparagus, now in season. If you want to order it, reserve ahead.
Got those winery open days noted? April 27 and 28 plus May 1 in German-speaking Switzerland. Valais 9-11 May. Vaud 18-19 May. If you want to visit the magnificent Independence Park’s tulip festival in Morges you’ll have to do it earlier, as it closes 12 May. And Geneva has its Open Wineries now every Saturday, a change that makes for more manageable tasting sessions.
Check out upcoming wine tourism events including: (Vaud) the BAM train in Morges, a wine tourism pioneer, has winemaker days with a great train ride, meet the winemaker and have lunch with the cellar’s wines. Still places for 4 May. (Valais) Rouvinez cellars in Sierre have just added a new option: electric bike and hike (Sierre to Lichten Castle) with overnight and dinner options, 10 km through wonderful vineyards. (Valais) Mont d’Or, with the oldest vineyard in Valais and superb wines, won a top wine tourism award in 2023 for its ongoing art and culture programme: don’t miss the “Memory and movement” exhibit of 175 photos in the vineyard (and do turn it into a longer hike up the hillside).
Itinerant Salon Vino Verritas goes to Fully, Valais, 6 May, gives you a chance to taste wines from an interesting small group of producers who offer a mix of natural, “living”, biodynamic and organic wines.
Coming soon
The Marche region in Italy: the non-touristy twin to Tuscany, its wines, its extraordinary pasta parfetta. Also, know your citrus fruits. And more: cycling the vineyards, a sommelier’s dream.