Wine Tasting Report

Christopher Rath

2006-08-07

I recently, June 2006, traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland and had a weekend free in which to do a little local exploration. One of the activities I undertook was to visit a local winery, Château de Glérolles, and do some wine tasting. The wineries in that region of Switzerland (called the Lavaux wine district) are mostly small operations who sell their wine locally and do not export their products.

I took a ferry down the shore of Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Rivaz, and the Château de Glerolles was a 5 minute walk from the small port in Rivaz. This winery requires a reservation for tasting wine, and I had called ahead to book an appointment for 1:00 pm. My travelling companion, Mike, and I arrived at 12:00, and the only person there was the guy who was going to run the tasting, Louie; he didn’t speak much English and we didn't speak much French, so we had to cope using our limited high-school French. Château de Glérolles charged 15 CHF for the tasting.

Here’s what we tasted and what I thought (listed in the order we tasted them). The non-numbered wines are two extra we tasted while at Château de Glerolles.

1. Château de Glérolles Grand Cru, St-Saphorin aoc (#10210) 2004 — White

• very good
• distinctive flavour
• appeared to be very lightly carbonated when it was first opened, but quickly dissipated

2. Château de Glérolles Grand Cru, Réserver Blanche (#10275) 2004 — White

• I don’t like this one
• this tastes like “white wine”
• Mike & Louie both thought this was the best wine we tasted; when Louie stepped out to get the next bottle I emptied my glass into Mike’s

3. “18.07.05” Œil-de-Perdrix du Pays de Vaud aoc (#12480) Cuvée spéciale «Grêle» 2005 — Rosé

• good
• hint of cherry flavour

* “18.07.05” Assemblage de Céphages Nobles, Lavaux aoc Cuvée spéciale «Grêle» 2005— Red

• very good
• bottled after only 10 days
• very smooth
• light flavour

4. Noble Cépages, St-Saphorin aoc (#12260) 2004 — Red

• very good

5. Pinot noir de St-Saphorin aoc (etiquette noir-or) (#12280) 2004 — Red

• best yet, very smooth Pinot
• Louie admitted that this is 60% Gamay
• Gamay gives it good flavour

* Pinot noir de St-Saphorin aoc (#12270) 2004 — Red

• this was fabulous

6. Vendanges Tardives, St-Saphorin aoc (#10240) 2004 — White

• very good

7. Gewürztraminer, St-Saphorin aoc (#10250) 2004 — White

• OK
• just another white wine; albeit better than the Réserve Mike & Louie raved about