Culinary excursion: Pinot Rhein vertical tasting

“Are you now also active in culinary terms?!”, a PR agency recently wrote to me after I shared the news on my Facebook page that we are designing the content of the new book “Culinary Time Travels” for the Swiss Historic Hotels. These lines made me smile. A classic example of pigeonholing. There are only a few of my more than 500 blog posts where not a single food picture is shown. And in my city guides, the culinary recommendations are just as important as the sightseeing tips. Tasting local dishes is part of the travel experience for me. Trying out local wines is also a matter of course for me. Bordeaux in Bordeaux and Heida in Visperterminen – logical, right?

At the beginning of June, there was an opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Pinot wines. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Pinot Rhein – a joint project of four wineries – a vertical tasting was held in the Kunstkantine Zurich. I first had to google what this means in technical jargon and learned the following from Wikipedia: “with a vertical, you only taste wines from a single winery in the timeline”. The Pinot Rhein is a blend of the best Pinot Noir barrique from the five winegrower friends, all of whom are based in the Graubünden Rhine Valley.

And so, after a warm-up phase with Lampert’s Riesling, Malanser Pinot Gris, Cicero Chardonnay and Adank’s Brut, we tested our way through the vintages 2006 to 2013 from Pinot Rhein. For me as a “layman”, it was surprising how different the individual vintages tasted. The 2007 was not my cup of tea at all. I was inspired by the 2008 and 2010 vintages. The next blend of Pinot Rhein (vintage 2015) will take place on 16 September in Fläsch.

We were not only allowed to drink fine wines that evening, but were also spoiled by the cook Margaretha Jüngling with a delicious tavolata. She actually managed to make me like pig’s tongue. She is currently cooking at the pop-up restaurant Ristorante Zampano (until 25 June) – we’ll soon be able to read somewhere where she wants to go after that.

If you are interested in wine, I would like to take this opportunity to recommend the great-sounding short course “schöner saufen“. The course is conducted in collaboration with Sobre Mesa and wine journalists Benjamin Herzog and Dominik Vombach. A look at the “menu” of Sobre Mesa is also worthwhile for all those who are already drinking professionals. Laura Schälchli – the brains behind Sobre Mesa – regularly organises exciting courses and events around sustainable food culture.

Note: I was invited to this occasion. As always, all impressions/opinions are my own.