Switzerland

Burgundy Press

Tasting in Burgundy

Switzerland, the Jura & Burgundy by Train

11 - 17 September 2011

This unique and innovative harvest time wine tour takes in two very different wine regions, Switzerland and Burgundy, and travels through the Jura region between them making the journey part of the holiday. We promise those of you that have never considered Switzerland as a serious wine destination that you will be truly delighted by these wines (let alone the stunning setting of the wineries!), especially the Pinot Noirs from here which Lynette Arblaster & Tim Clarke are great fans of (we have been researching these wines on a regular basis for the last 15 years in our own personal travels).

This wine tour is not being repeated in 2012, if you would like to travel through the vineyards of Switzerland, the Jura and Burgundy, tasting great Pinot Noir, please book this year!

Our first base is the elegant and relaxed lake-side resort of Vevey on Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) set stunningly at the foot of the Alps. We stay here for three nights in a central four star hotel from where we have a relaxing itinerary to give you time to enjoy the lake and its beautiful surroundings as well as enjoy a couple of leisurely meals at a couple of the top wine estates.

Our wine visits will show you the best that Swiss wine has to offer – we have been researching this for many years now on our previous tours to the region and on our personal travels over many years. The grape varieties used in Swiss wine-making are Pinot Noir, Gamay and Merlot for red, and Chassellas and Muller-Thurgau for the whites. However, we are mainly here to taste the Pinot Noir, so that you can see later in the week how it compares with that of Burgundy. Historically it was blended with Gamay to give it more body or made as an Oeil de Pedrix’ (partridge eye) rosé wine. Nowadays Swiss Pinot can be fine, pure and aromatic too, if still light bodied, but juicy and delicious!

There are also many interesting and enjoyable wine specialties produced including Syrah, Gewurztraminer, Marsanne and Sylvaner, as well as wines made from rare local varieties such as Savagnin, Humagne Blanc, Amigne and Cornalin, which can be very interesting indeed. There are also rare sweet wines, such as ‘Mavoisie’, made from dried Pinot Gris grapes and ‘Vin de Glacier’, where the wines are stored in summer in high mountain huts.

Of course, you can’t visit Switzerland and ignore the chocolate! So, we have arranged for those that would like to know more, to meet the local chocolatier M Poyet in his chocolate workshop in the heart of Vevey. Here he will explain to you where he buys his chocolate from and why, you’ll taste the raw product, learn about the differences in flavour from some of the principle cocoa growing regions in the world that he and his consortium of 12 independent chocolatiers buy from. You will taste not only the very raw products, but also some of his inspired masterpiece creations that he has made in honour of, for example, the Dalai Lama and the King of Thailand! Then, we’ll explore together some interesting chocolate and wine combinations to understand that it is not which wine with chocolate, but au contraire, which chocolate with wine!

After our three wonderful days wine touring in Switzerland we travel by coach from Vevey to Beaune, stopping in the Jura region to taste the wines and bringing us into the heart of Burgundy for the evening.

Our base for the next three nights is the traditional wine town of Beaune. From here we will visit a selection of leading negociants and small, high quality growers, so that you can see both sides of the wine industry. There will be many excellent Burgundies to taste, both red and white, ranging from good value regional appellations to awesome Grand and Premier Crus which we believe are some of the greatest wines in the world.

This pioneering tour offers two fascinating and contrasting destinations, gives you the opportunity to compare and contrast the Pinot Noir’s in particular from these two regions, and to enjoy interesting journeys and delicious food… so do join us!

Accommodation

Upgrades:
To upgrade there is a supplement of £400 per person in deluxe twin and an additional deposit of £100 per person due at time of booking.

In Vevey this is to the 5* Relais & Château, Hotel du Lac with a deluxe Lake View room. You will need taxis to and from the station, payable locally. In Beaune, you will be upgraded to our favourite 4* hotel in Beaune in twin/double for the three nights we are here.

Please note that there is limited availability for the upgrade rooms.