Attended a wine tasting at the Fromm winery in the Bündner Herrschaft region of Switzerland on Friday evening.
Bündner Herrschaft - the gateway valley to Kanton Graubunden from where you can head through the various valleys and passes to ski resorts such as Flims, Laax to the South West, or Arosa, Klosters/Davos and onwards to Saint Moritz to the South and South West, I drive through it fairly regularly on the way the various hockey games with my son. The valley floor (and vineyards) have an elevation of around 450-600m, with mountains on either side heading above 2000m. Well drained soil with plenty of minerals, plenty of sunshine and the Föhn warm winds make it an excellent wine growing region with around three quarters being planted with Pinot Noir, and most of the rest white grapes with both Swiss and non-Swiss varieties (Riesling, Sauv Blanc and Chardonnay). Very much seen as a Burgundian type region , the two biggest names Gantenbein and Donatsch have some international recognition with Thomas Studach (my personal favorite) not far behind, although only tiny quantities of these wines are available outside of Switzerland (or inside for that matter!).
Fromm winery - there is evidence of cultivation in the vineyards for well over 1000 years, the Fromm family have been running the vineyards since 1866, although the Fromm name is probably best known internationally from the Clayvin vineyard in New Zealand that 4th generation Georg Fromm purchased in the 1990s, before selling and returning to focus on the Swiss vineyard in 2007. 5th generation Marco Fromm took over the vineyard in 2015. This year they have opened the new winery. They have 6 separate Pinot Noir Parcels;
Selvenen: 1.3ha, 49 year old Swiss Clone and 22 year old Burgundy Clone.
Michel: 0.42 h.a. 19 year old Swiss Clone.
Fidler: 0.19 h.a. 39 year old Swiss Clone
Spielmann: 0.26 h.a., 13 year old Burgundy clone
Schöpfli: 0.65 h.a. 17 year old Burgundy clone
Küng, the newest parcel I didn’t get the size, 43 year old Swiss clone, 16 year old Burgundy clone
The wines are all aged around 12 months in barriques with around 20% new oak and I understood 30-40% whole bunch content.
We had 5 courses and flights (we missed desert as we had a pre-booked taxi) - I didn’t take detailed notes as it was very much a social occasion as well.
Flight 1 - Tuna and spring onion served with Nori cracker served with 19/20/21 Fromm Chardonnay. In general they are very fresh and mineral driven, all had good levels of acidity which aligned with the ages - the 2019 having already softened while the 2021 was still quite mouth puckering. I thought 2020 really came into its own with the food, Marco Fromm was particularly excited about the potential of the 2021. I have some bottles of 2016 at home and it is drinking really well at the moment.
Flight 2 - Beef fillet with cauliflower and miso, served with 2023 Schöpfli, Spielmann and Küng. The 2023 vintage overall is a very elegant vintage and the wines showed well. The Schöpfli finished with a bit too much vanilla oak for me, where as the other two wore it well. The Spielmann definitely had some spicy characteristics I would associate with Gevrey. The Küng was more favorite, as I understood it, it a higher whole bunch content than the other two. Overall 2023 is definitely a vintage I will buy.
Flight 3 - Pumpkin Ravioli with a mushroom dashi broth, served with 2018 Michel, Fidler and Selvenen. 2018 overall was a great vintage (I have quite a lot of wines from the region including the Spielmann) - the wines are deep and powerful, with cherry, dark fruits and spice. The Michel was initially the most reticent, but once it started to open it was my favorite all were similar in characteristics, the Michel just had more of everything. My favorite flight and the Michel my second favorite wine
Flight 4 - Mushroom and beef filled dumpling, served with 2014 and 2016 Schöpfli. 2014 was a difficult vintage but they were very happy with the result and it was easy to see why, red and black fruits, lovely spice and very elegant, just entering into middle age but has a long time to go. The 2016 was perhaps a little more rustic. I enjoyed these two, but still preferred 2018 which is a little fuller.
Flight 5 - venison with red cabbage served with 2000, 2011 and 2021 Selvenen served from Magnums. It was all about the 2000 here, which was glorious (WOTN), still only middle aged the with plenty of live left and just shows how these Swiss Pinot’s age.
Overall it was a lovely evening and Fromm continues to be produce some really lovely wines at excellent values - the red’s age from about CHF25 ($30, €27, £24) to CHF75 ($90, €80, £73) for the Spielmann and Schöpfli and for me comfortably hold their own with similarly priced or more expensive Burgundies. Well recommended if you are in Switzerland and find them on a wine list. Of course also worth a visit, the winery is a 10 minute taxi from the Grand Hotel Bad Ragaz.
