Anyone have any experience with these? Just opened one from the Valais (an area known mainly for whites, or so I thought) that kind of blew me away.
Serge Roh - Caves Les Ruinettes, Grand Cru de Vétroz, 2009. I don’t have a lot of information on the producer, other than that it’s a Rosenthal selection. No notes on Cellar Tracker. From what I’ve been able to find online, it seems the vines are at a relatively high altitude, with some age to them (average = 35 years). The fruit is completely destemmed and tastes like it sees little if any new oak.
It’s a lovely light/bright shimmering thing that smells like a berry patch in the middle of a cherry orchard, with everything ripe and ready and accents of flowers and sap. Bright red fruit on the palate - tart Morello cherries and ripe raspberries - with saline and resin notes sneaking through to add a savoury/mineral quality. Soft tannins. Light, but so precise and pure. $28 on sale, worth every penny and then some. Would make a hell of a ringer in a flight of young Burgundy village wines from a red-fruited vintage.
Is this a complete anomaly, or should I be on the lookout for more Swiss Pinots?
Had some great pinots while in Bern earlier this year. Was very impressed but don’t have any specific notes or labels to share. Enjoyed the moments and figured I wouldn’t see many of them outside of Switzerland. But I’m a fan and would love to try this wine and others from the area.
There is some really terrific Pinot here, more from Graubunden and Schaffhausen though.
1999 Gantenbein Pinot Noir- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Bündner Herrschaft, Fläsch (11/14/2014) A glorious and educational tasting of Swiss wines (Bern, Switzerland): We went through two bottles of this one. The first was DOA, but the second was pretty glorious (especially following the 2006 earlier in the evening). Still with a long way to go, this has turned the corner and gained a softness and subtlety that wasn’t really on display in its younger sibling.
2011 Weingut Wolfer Pinot Noir Grand Vin- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Thurgau, Weinfelden (11/14/2014) A glorious and educational tasting of Swiss wines (Bern, Switzerland): Similar to the #2 wine in the flight with a “candied stems” aspect, lots of lots of stems. Whole cluster fermentation? Lots of licorice, concentrated, sweet and sappy. There is a lot of like here, but I find it a bit sweet. My second favorite of the flight.
2010 Gantenbein Pinot Noir- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Bündner Herrschaft, Fläsch (11/1/2014) DWCC Iconic Swiss Varietals with Mr. Paolo Basso (Montreux, Switzerland): A bit reductive and smoky. Quite full and balanced, silky, bordering on thick. A very looooong finish with nice raspberry and mineral. I have managed to taste a number of these now, and it is world class Pinot albeit in a much “bigger” style for Switzerland.
2012 Weinbau Markus Ruch Pinot Noir Hallau Haalde- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Schaffhausen, Hallau (9/3/2014)
Smoke and peat and some pine on the nose. The palate starts with bright cherry but gains significant depth with air. Incredibly supple and silky, just gorgeous textually. These Markus Ruch wines are really quite special. (91 pts.)
2011 Gérald Clavien (Cave Les Deux Crêtes) Pinot Noir Tête de Cuvée- Switzerland, Valais (7/7/2014)
This is a rather elegant if not somewhat vegetal example of Pinot Noir. Soft and lovely with more than adequate acidity. Lots of leaf and stalk moving to excellent minerality. I quite enjoyed this.
2011 Gantenbein Pinot Noir- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Bündner Herrschaft, Fläsch (2/22/2014) A first taste of Swiss wines (Bern, Switzerland): Extra smoky with campfire and charcoal briquette. Oh yeah, great entry, explosive, boysenberry, juicy, vibrant, kaleidescopic with lots of flavor dimensions. Really tannic, persistent, very drying. This seems more like a Pinot for lovers of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage. It drops off a bit on the finish. Despite the positive notes, it was my least favorite wine of the flight.
2011 Weingut Eichholz Pinot Noir Eichholz- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Bündner Herrschaft, Jenins (2/22/2014) A first taste of Swiss wines (Bern, Switzerland): A glowing, beautiful robe, just gorgeous to look at. Higher pitched with lacquer and teak, and this also really starts to pop out of the glass. What a great palate, utterly enveloping, pure silk, seamless, focused, and quite driven. Despite the silkiness, there is a tight, dark core to this wine, mouthwatering, with really dominant acidity. Some tannins sneaking in at the end. My #1 wine of the flight.
2012 Weinbau Markus Ruch Pinot Noir Hallau Chölle- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Schaffhausen, Hallau (2/22/2014) A first taste of Swiss wines (Bern, Switzerland): Light in color and somewhat cloudy. A very expressive nose with hints of varnish, mushroom, soil, cardamom, and citrus peel. There is a lot of definite spice, and this gets even more expressive with time. In comparison to the nose, the palate is a bit flat. Woof, there is a lot of obvious tannin, and this is really pretty locked down. There are nice mineral tones, but this just isn’t giving much right now. It’s really quite tannic. Just wait My #2 wine of the flight.
2012 Weinbau Markus Ruch Pinot Noir Hallau Chölle- Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Schaffhausen, Hallau (2/21/2014)
Wow, what a treat. A seriously smokey nose that almost hinted of Syrah. Meaty and savory. I thought it had to be oak, but the fellow pouring insisted this only saw old oak. The palate is fantastic, laser focused with a very intense and deep core. Quite supple and surprisingly powerful. A long finish. Really lovely.
In general Valais is too warm a climate for Pinot Noir, and it’s varieties like Syrah and other local ones which are better suited to that region (but I need to try Steve Bettschen). As Eric was saying Graubuenden and Schaffhausen (and Aargau and Thurgau too) are cooler and tend to give better Pinot Noirs, IMHO. Then there is the human factor: Gantenbein has been for many years the reference point and is almost the only one you can find abroad (and for a hefty price). But his style is on the ripe, powerful side: “Pinot for lovers of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage.” as Eric aptly said. In his region there are other excellent ones (Eichholz, I. Gruenenfelder, Georg Fromm, Thomas Studach etc.), with a few younger people (Jan Luzi of Sprecher von Bernegg) coming up.
In Thurgau Bachtobel, though less famous than Gantenbein, has also been a reference point and contributed to the formation of several younger weinmakers, like Markus Ruch, who is making fantastic wines in Schaffhausen, or Michael Broger in Thurgau (but I don’t know his wines well enough to comment).
And I often see newer wineries I hadn’t heard of and which would be nice to try.
In summary: yes, Switzerland is a great place for making Pinot Noir, and only now its true potential is starting to be discovered.
There are great Pinots in Switzerland and worth looking for. But you have to look hard because they are difficult to come by and quite expensive lately. Gantenbein, Studach, Schlegel, Sprecher von Bernegg, Fromm, Herter,Ruch, Eichholz, Spiez etc.
I don’t think that Gantenbein is generally for lovers of Cote Rotie, I think this remark was related to the 2011. A lot of Gantenbein vintages represent a cool Pinot/Burgundy style, but they need some time in bottle.
Cheers
Rainer
Thanks for all the great suggestions. Sounds like Swiss PN is well worth seeking out, though likely not easy to find outside Switzerland. I enjoy travel that combines my passions for wine, nature and hiking. A trip to Switzerland and Northern Italy has been on my short list for a while, was thinking of a summer visit to the vineyards of Valais followed by a hike through the St. Bernard pass into Aosta. Though now it seems eastern Switzerland should be on my wine radar as well.
Had a lovely Pinot Noir de Cully (near Lausanne) '08 by Blondel a few years a ago. Bright, precise, and very carefully made. Not easy to come by though, this was a gift from a friend who knows the wine maker.
Rainer, I have tasted only few aged Gantenbein and liked them. Of recent vintages I have enjoyed 2009, but much less so 2010, which I found very ripe and unbalanced (perhaps an off bottle, or not the right moment). Surprising for the vintage. As you write 2011 was riper as a vintage but I found it was handled well chez Gantenbein.
So far I have been very disappointed by their Chardonnay: way too ripe and massive in style.
By the way, Eric, I am glad to read you also found the nose of “La maison Carree” green and off-putting. But in my experience it improved on day two and three. And like you, I much preferred the palate, which is quite interesting. I am curious to see how it ages. Anyway a wine and a winery with personality.
Fully agree that Pinot is not the strongest varietal in the Valais, but there are good ones to be found.
For sure +1 on M-T. Also try some of the producers at the upper end of the Valais. Maurice Zufferey, Nicolas Zufferey (there are a handful of Zufferey’s in the Valais) or Dennis Mercier in Sierre. And then there are a bunch around Salquenen/Salgesch (same town but it sits right on the Röstigraben)…Gregor Kuonen, Adrian Mathier and Fernand Cina.
Geneva: J-P Pellegrin (Domaine Grand’Cour)
And on the other side of the Röstigraben, I would add Weingut Donatsch and Schlossgut Bachtobel and definitely Weingut Georg Fromm
FYI, I import Chappaz to the US, and have just been told of my allocations after visiting with her earlier in June; a bit of EVERYTHING is in play.
The full offer of her wines will go out in the next two weeks, if you’d care to be included.
Please PM with your email if so.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}